The Study Group
by fantasy1290
Summary: What if Harry decided to actually apply himself and focus on his education in school by forming a study group with some very smart and attractive witches to help him? Harry/Hermione/Susan/Daphne/Padma
1. The Study Group

**The Study Group**

**Chapter 1**

**Beginnings of the Study Group**

**Harry**

Harry sighed as he tried to go over once again the mountain of study material that Hermione had given him.

"I'm never going to remember all this," Harry complained.

"Of course you are Harry, it's easy," Hermione tried to reassure him.

"Maybe for you," He pointed out, "you just barely found out that you're a witch several months ago and just barely started school and you're already top student in our year if not the school."

Hermione blushed at the compliment but insisted, "well yes I am doing better than I thought, but I'm sure that there is still plenty that students that come from magical families know that we don't...that's why we're studying and trying to prepare ahead of time so much. Besides there are also lots of other good students that I've noticed: Susan Bones in Hufflepuff for instance, or Padma Patil in Ravenclaw."

"Great, yet more super smart and magically powerful witches who can kick my butt," Harry answered sarcastically.

At a look from Hermione he then hastily added, "not that there is anything wrong with that. Besides I'm sure you could beat either Susan or Padma too when it comes schoolwork."

"It isn't a competition, but I'm sure if they studied and prepared ahead of time as much as we have they would do just as good if not better," Hermione replied.

It had only been a month since starting Hogwarts and Harry had very quickly become best friends with Hermione Granger, a very smart Muggleborn witch that he had hoped would be on the same level as him since she had also grown up without a magical background. Unfortunately that soon proved to be not at all the case and he found himself working hard to try to catch up to her.

This however suited him just fine. He like Hermione also felt the need to try to make up for his lack of magical knowledge by learning as much as he could as quickly as he could, it also helped that he just plain found the magical world and all its interesting spells, history, magical items, and more all fascinating.

He also felt like he needed to prove himself, not because he was the boy-who-lived, but because simply he'd been pushed around and beaten up by Dudley and his Aunt and Uncle so much growing up that he was just fed up with it and he wanted to never be treated like that again.

Hermione was the first person who had ever treated him like a real person that actually cared about him. Most people in the magical world treated him too much like a celebrity with the whole boy-who-lived thing, a status he was quickly getting annoyed by. He felt he was really no different than anybody else and he shouldn't be worshipped for something that had not only caused the deaths of his parents and him growing up an orphan as a result, but also it was an event he couldn't even remember as he was just a baby and constantly having it brought up was not at all enjoyable. Yet people didn't seem to realize or care about that.

Take Ron Weasley for example, the boy who had tried to sit next to him on the train to school soon proved to be unbearable in his hero worship of him and he was grateful when Hermione had come along, looking to help another student find a toad that he had lost. Harry had immediately taken the opportunity to try and get away from Ron and go help her. In the process of looking for the toad they had struck up a conversation and then soon became friends after that. She seemed mildly interested in him and his story for a moment but then switched to talking about other things which he was grateful for and she hadn't brought it up again knowing that he didn't like it.

Getting back to the present after reminiscing about how he and Hermione had become friends, he noticed Hermione thinking.

"You know maybe some other students could benefit from a study group," Hermione observed, "it might also help lessen the workload as we share it amongst each other and collaborate and help each other with what we've learned. We would need some good solid students for that though."

"Not any of my roommates that's for sure," Harry commented, laughing at the thought, "can you imagine Ron ever studying for anything, especially not way ahead of time?"

Hermione couldn't help but smile at that.

"Yeah, no," Hermione agreed, "I was thinking maybe students who have proved that they actually care about their education and are already really trying."

"Such as Susan and Padma," Harry suggested, echoing Hermione's earlier comment about the two of them being good students.

"Yes them," Hermione agreed with a nod, "I think they would be great for that."

"No harm in asking them," Harry replied before not being able to resist teasing her, "Of course, wouldn't that mean they might actually get ahead of you then?"

"It isn't a competition!" Hermione insisted before then admitting, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a few others on our same level to bounce ideas and get help off of."

"Anyone else you can think of you want to invite?" Harry asked her.

Hermione seemed to think for a moment as she said, "well we would have us 2 in Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, and a Ravenclaw, it would admittedly be rather nice to include someone from Slytherin as well to show Inter-House cooperation."

Admittedly this was another good idea, Harry had already noticed that people seemed to be sticking to their own houses which was a real shame as it only created rifts and problems between each house. Still he had to admit that there were at least some students from each house that had some rather negative qualities he didn't care for very much.

"Not Malfoy," Harry insisted.

Malfoy had tried to offer him a hand of friendship right before the Sorting but he had also just insulted Hermione just before that, making fun of her being a Muggleborn and he could never be friends with someone that would treat Hermione like that.

Hermione frowned and agreed, "no definitely not Malfoy, or any of his usual posse of followers. I can just imagine how that would go."

Harry adopted his best fake Malfoy voice and said: "How about I teach you both about the insides of all the Hogwarts toilets?"

"Yeah no," Hermione said shaking her head, "how about Daphne Greengrass though? She seems to be a decent enough student already and she doesn't seem to have any pureblood supremacist ideals as far as I can tell."

"We can invite her too at the very least and see if she wants to," Harry agreed.

….

**Daphne**

Daphne Greengrass, new and proud Slytherin was walking down the halls when surprisingly Hermione Granger came up to her and tried to introduce herself.

"Hi, I don't know if you know me but-"

"I know who you are," Daphne interrupted her, "you're Hermione Granger right?"

It wasn't exactly hard not to at least know of Hermione Granger by now, her constantly trying to answer questions in class made her stick out as well as her being a Muggleborn and being clearly unfamiliar with wizard ways. Of course Daphne also prided herself on knowing at least a little bit about each of her classmates in case such information proved useful. As her father always told her, it often didn't matter so much what you know, but who you know. Then of course her mother would always tease her husband with the fact that it certainly was the case in him being very lucky to be married to her then.

Hermione looked a bit nervous but glad to see that Daphne already knew who she was as she invited, "well me and Harry, you know Harry Potter were planning on starting a study group with some of the better students, Susan Bones and Padma Patil already accepted and we were wondering if maybe you might like to join as well?"

Daphne was a bit surprised that Harry and Hermione would think to invite her, it wasn't that she was a bad student, she was trying very hard to make sure that she got off to a strong start in her school career, but it was surprising that they would invite her a Slytherin to join their study group. She even briefly considered that this might be some sort of trap, before tossing such an idea aside. Not everyone was out to get her and Hermione at least seemed nice enough and her devotion to her education was already becoming legendary.

"How often would we be meeting for this study group?" Daphne asked her curiously.

"Maybe several times a week assuming that works for everyone," Hermione admitted, "it is really just to help each other out in improving our education, so we are prepared and even get ahead if possible."

"I see," Daphne said, still thinking about it. In truth this actually seemed to be a big commitment and had much more far reaching implications for her than just what Hermione had in mind, a study group.

Associating herself so much with other students not of her house or of pureblood status would undoubtedly cause her some issues with her fellow Slytherins. She was already getting plenty of pressure to join what many of her other Slytherin classmates were doing, becoming what she termed secretly Death Eater wannabes or in the case of the first years, Draco Malfoy's fan club, Draco using his family's vast wealth and power as a way to encourage others to follow and listen to him.

So far she had acted rather coy and pretended to be interested in such offers but not willing to commit which so far just made her seem like she was just weighing her options like any Slytherin might, but secretly she was very much hoping that she wouldn't have to, she just plain didn't believe at all in pureblood supremacy as it was quite a ridiculous notion, plenty of Muggleborns in fact were just as good if not better witches and wizards and Hermione here was a good example of that. A bit bossy and a bit of a know-it-all but still a very smart and magically capable girl.

At any rate, Daphne had been concerned about choosing to not join Draco's group, as doing so would likely make Draco mad and cause her to be retaliated against or shunned by her fellow Slytherins. If she was going to cross them, she would need powerful and loyal allies to protect her and whether Hermione knew it or not, she apparently already had some to offer her if she joined her group. Susan Bones who apparently also was joining the study group was very highly connected, being of an ancient and noble family and her Aunt being the Head of Magical Law Enforcement certainly helped too. Hermione and Padma were not at all connected, but at least showed signs of promise as powerful and intelligent witches. Yet the real prize was Harry Potter. No one, not even any of the Slytherins would blame her if she chose to throw her lot in with Harry Potter instead. He was easily the most famous as well as the most influential student in the school and he was only a first year like her. It also helped that he was rather cute...not that she would admit that however.

After thinking it over, Daphne realized that this study group could be exactly what she needed in order to avoid having to join Draco Malfoy's fan club and instead befriend some other better and more powerful allies.

"Alright I'll join your little study group," Daphne told Hermione finally, "we'll see how it goes."

….

**Harry**

Surprisingly all 3 girls that they had planned to invite to join their study group had accepted, even Daphne and they all met in the library after classes were over for their first official study group session.

"So I took the liberty of creating study planners for each of us," Hermione began as she reached into her bag and began handing out planners, "it only goes over the first few weeks so far but after getting some feedback I would be happy to sit down and plan some things out with you all."

Each of them looked over the rather extensively planned out planners, complete with color coding when it came to each subject and how much time was allotted per area of study.

"This certainly must have taken a lot of time," Susan observed seeming a bit overwhelmed by Hermione's ambitious and meticulously created plans, "you didn't have to go through so much trouble on our account."

Harry could tell that Susan was just trying to be nice but didn't want anyone to be overworked or overwhelmed including herself.

"It does seem to be a bit much," Harry admitted to Hermione, trying not to hurt her feelings but also wanting to make sure that they didn't need to be this strict with studying.

"So what is the point of all this studying you want to do anyway?" Daphne asked, "what is the end goal?"

"Well I would say that gaining knowledge is its own reward," Padma said.

Hermione gave Padma a very pleased smile, loving that answer.

"It should be at least partially so we can help others," Susan suggested, "such as students that might be struggling more than us and could use some help."

"Why should we help them?" Daphne questioned, "if students are going to be lazy then that is their own fault, if we are going to study harder than them then shouldn't we be the ones reaping the rewards?"

"Well I think we can probably accomplish all of those things by studying and working hard," Harry pointed out, "helping others, helping ourselves, and gaining lots of knowledge."

"We would also expect to be better and stronger magic users," Hermione added, "we could use what we learn to eventually get good paying jobs and be able to do whatever we want to after school."

That seemed to satisfy everyone and Hermione began:

"So I was thinking we could start with tomorrow's lesson on that Cleaning Charm."

"Sounds like a good place to start," Susan agreed, "I actually already had taken the liberty of looking it over and-"

The conversation continued on from there.

Each of them were already opening up their Charms books and having a good conversation about the upcoming lesson.

He could tell that each of them had different personalities and different backgrounds but he was hopeful that they could all come together in a common cause, at least as far as studying was concerned, maybe they might even become good friends out of it, who knows?

At the very least for now, he had noticed that Padma seemed to be a bit more shy than the others as she wasn't really contributing but he could that there was plenty that she wanted to say.

"So what did you think about that Padma?" Harry asked her trying to get her more involved.

Padma blushed at him addressing her but was able to start explaining about her opinion on the Charm and how best to do it.

After about 15 minutes spent talking however he grew a bit bored as he felt they had talked about the spell to death and not even actually attempted it as he suggested, "well I think it's probably best that we get to actually practicing the spell don't you?"

"Agreed," Hermione said with a nod.

They each went out of the library and over to an empty classroom to practice the new spell.

As he watched each of the girls attempting to try it out, he couldn't help but look each of the girls over. He didn't really know them all that well yet except Hermione to a certain extent, but he was eager to get to know them better and hopefully become good friends with them. They each seemed to be smart, magically powerful, nice, and he couldn't help but notice, all rather pretty.

Hermione first of all had this thick, bushy brown hair that went down to her upper back and brown eyes.

Susan had long dark red hair that went to her hips as well as blue eyes. He also couldn't help but notice that despite her young age, she already seemed to be developing a bit on her chest.

Padma had very long shiny black hair that went below her bum, bronzed brown skin, and dark brown eyes.

Daphne had blonde hair that went to her waist and green eyes.

"See something you like Harry?" Daphne asked him with a bit of an amused grin as she had caught him staring at her.

"Sorry," Harry said apologizing as he shook himself.

"Oh don't be, I don't mind," Daphne said with a sly smile.

He couldn't help but blush at that before trying to get back to practicing the spell...which he did the first time much to his amazement.

"Good job Harry," Susan praised, "first out of all of us to do it too."

"Bet you can't do it again though," Daphne teased him.

Wow, it certainly didn't take Daphne long to open up he thought.

He however tried the spell again and once again did it perfectly.

"Did it," He told Daphne a bit smugly.

"I knew you would Harry," Padma told him, blushing a bit.

"Thanks Padma," Harry told her, giving her a smile, which caused her to blush more.

"Care to show the rest of us how you did it?" Hermione asked him.

"Of course," He answered as he tried demonstrating and going through the motions of just exactly what he had done.

It wasn't long before all 4 girls got it and were able to do it several more times before Hermione considered it good enough and they moved on to a Transfiguration spell.

They practiced and studied together well into the night and by the end they were all exhausted, mentally, physically, and magically but they all seemed quite pleased by the results and they made plans to meet up again tomorrow after classes.


	2. The Troll

**Chapter 2**

**The Troll**

**Harry**

"Potter what ingredients would I need in order to make a Silencing Potion?" Professor Snape demanded as they all sat in Potions class.

"A Newt's tail, crab grass, fireweed, and magical oak's root," Harry told him as politely as he could.

Snape had had it out for him since the start of the year, seeming to hate him for some reason. Fortunately it seemed that his studying was paying off because he was able to answer more and more of Snape's quite difficult questions, which instead of seeming to appease Snape, only seemed to annoy him more and more that he couldn't just try and humiliate or embarrass him for not knowing the answers.

Snape glared at him but finally and grudgingly admitted, '"correct."

After that Snape seemed to be considering asking him another question but thought better of it and decided to move on with the lesson.

"Good job Harry," Hermione praised.

She tried to say it quietly so Snape wouldn't hear.

"Studying seems to be paying off," Harry told her, causing Hermione to smile happily at that.

As time had gone by the study group quickly began proving themselves as the top students in the year or perhaps even the school. Each of their teachers quickly became more and more impressed with them and their work ethic as well as magical abilities.

Well other than Potions, Professor Snape still seemed to have it out for him but even he seemed to be close to giving up as Harry noticed that he just ignored him for the rest of the class.

At any rate when it came to any of his classes, he always had Hermione with him, his fellow Gryffindor, while it varied just which other member of the study group that they were with, depending on the class. For Charms, Herbology, and Transfiguration it was Susan, for Astronomy and History of Magic it was Padma, for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions it was Daphne.

One class he did find that he really enjoyed, though it was only for a few lessons was Broom Flying. It turned out he was an absolute natural, so much so that Madame Hooch was trying to get him to try out for Quidditch which he declined because he felt his studies were more important. It also meant less time with his new found study buddies and now friends who he was very quickly growing to all like a lot.

Susan was the nicest and most friendly of their group and was always looking to help others out, which Harry noticed in his classes with her she often spent plenty of time helping other students that were struggling in the class, Padma was the most shy out of all of them but often made some really great points when she did speak and displayed a great and genuine love of learning, Daphne was the most unfiltered, saying whatever she wanted to say, but it also made her quite entertaining sometimes. Then of course there was Hermione, which seemed to have become the unspoken leader of their study group and with getting to spend time with others that were her own age and realized she wasn't at all behind much the opposite, she began to mellow out gradually and become much easier to talk to even about things not related to school.

They all after getting their studying and homework done also made sure to take the time to talk about other things as Susan had pointed out they should also be more well rounded and focus on communicating well with others as that was also a valuable skill. Harry learned all about the home lives of each of the girls and what it was like growing up. Hermione had of course grown up Muggleborn and both her parents were dentists and apparently encouraged her to always put her education first but also made it hard to make friends up until now as she just couldn't relate well with other students and hadn't taken the time until now to really get to know anyone else.

Susan had grown up being raised by her mother and Aunt Amelia, who was apparently Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement which gave him reason never to make Susan mad at him or risk being thrown in prison. Well not likely but Susan was so nice anyway he doubted that she would ever use her family connection to sic her Aunt on him anyway unless he really did deserve it.

Padma's parents were both born in India and raised but she had been born and raised in Britain along with a twin sister Parvati and then a younger sister as well which made sharing a bit difficult as Parvati and her younger sister Priya were constantly borrowing her things without permission. Books had quickly become her thing as it was the one thing that neither of her sisters would ever want from her.

Daphne along with her younger sister Astoria had been born a pureblood witch to Slytherin parents, but while both her parents had been asked to join Voldemort during the war, they had however decided not to, even though that carried a great deal of risk of retaliation. They had instilled in their daughter a desire to prove herself and be proud of her accomplishments and work towards getting what she wanted but not look down on others because they were different from her or came from worse circumstances.

Sometimes the conversation did turn to things like clothes, or jewelry, or makeup, which none of the girls were particularly obsessed with such things but they did like to talk about them on occasion. When they did however he tended to stay out of it and either zone out or just listen as he felt he couldn't contribute or really even cared about the conversation.

A particular fashion trend among some witches that the girls all did adhere to or aspire to have was having very long hair, which he had to admit each of the girls did have quite pretty hair.

The girls were all jealous of Padma's hair and how shiny and long it was. Padma seemed to like the attention when one of the girls brought up her hair and was happy to talk about it but even she along with the other girls was hoping to grow her hair much longer.

Sometimes the girls would start brushing each other's hair and he was more than happy to help each of them. He loved brushing their hair as it was quite relaxing and enjoyable to him and the girls seemed to enjoy the attention he was giving them and pampering and spoiling them a little.

….

After Charms class on Halloween however after he, Hermione, and Susan had all easily and successfully performed the Wingardium Leviosa Charm for a delighted Professor Flitwick, Ron Weasley and his friends Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan stopped in front of Hermione, looking actually annoyed that she had tried to help them. Susan usually tried to help others out the most but indeed all of their study group tried to go out of their way to help their classmates, but unfortunately many times they could be less than grateful.

"Ooh, ooh, it's Leviosa not Leviosar!" Ron teased her, "you're a nightmare, you pathetic know-it-all, don't you know anything besides rubbish stuff learned in school? Did you even have any friends wherever you came from?"

Both Dean and Seamus laughed at that.

Harry was quite annoyed, especially since he had to share a dorm room with these 3.

"Why don't you mind your own business and leave her alone?" Harry told Ron, going and standing directly in front of him to try to get him to back down.

Ron however actually looked confused as to why he would continue to defend her as he asked, "I still don't get why you are even friends with that bushy haired ugly Muggleborn freak."

At that he noticed Hermione's face well up with tears before she rushed off somewhere.

Harry couldn't help but shove Ron in annoyance before running after Hermione, Susan right behind him.

He stopped when he saw Hermione go inside the girl's bathroom.

"Here, I'll go talk to her," Susan suggested as she went inside the bathroom to go try and calm Hermione down.

He however opted to just stand outside the door awkwardly, wishing he could help Hermione but not sure that he should be going inside the girls' bathroom. At any rate he could tell that Hermione really had been upset, Ron had unknowingly hit upon a lot of sore spots for poor Hermione.

He wasn't sure just how long he was standing there for but it certainly seemed like awhile...until he heard the loud booming sound.

Looking in the direction of the noise he saw a very big...something lumbering towards him. Whatever it was, it was big, it was mean, it was carrying a huge club, and he definitely didn't want to mess with it.

Quaking in fear he went for the first place he could think of for safety...namely inside the girls' bathroom.

"Harry, what-?" Susan started to ask as she stood there still comforting Hermione standing next to her. Hermione seemed to look a lot better and relaxed but she was quickly going to have another problem on her hands to deal with.

He closed the door behind him as he tried to explain breathlessly just what he had seen and was coming towards them.

Yet before he could get the words out the front door of the bathroom was knocked off its hinges and the great big...something came through the now open doorway.

"Troll!" Susan screamed fearfully.

Apparently it was a troll, he'd never actually seen one himself so he hadn't known just what it was, but now that he knew just what it was, it definitely didn't reassure him.

"How did a troll get inside the school?" Hermione asked, also looking scared as they all backed up against the far wall away from the troll as much as possible, "Hogwarts: A History says that the school has protection spells around it to prevent trolls from getting in."

"Tell that to him," Harry pointed out, "it got in somehow, that's all that matters right now."

The troll seemed intent on bashing their heads off, not because they had ever done anything to it, but simply because they were there, it was bigger and stronger than them, and because it could.

Much like his cousin Dudley Harry thought and the verdict was still out on which was more attractive...although he had to admit right now he'd definitely prefer taking on Dudley in a fight than this troll.

Up until now he'd always just let Dudley beat him up because it was just easier that way and because his Aunt and Uncle would have only punished him instead for standing up to Dudley.

Yet this was different situation, he didn't have to worry about his Muggle relatives and he knew he had to protect and save the two girls that had become his friends.

He realized they were going to need to face the troll and force it to either see it as not worth it to attack them or incapacitate or kill it somehow if they were going to have a chance of surviving.

He quickly went over what he had read about trolls. Well they had thick hides, making the use of magic on them difficult. They were also really stupid…

The way that the troll was glowering at them as it continued to come forward he figured it would not be a good idea to point that out to him.

A troll's weak spot was its head, Harry remembered gratefully as he positioned himself directly in front of the girls and more importantly also directly in front of the troll.

He raised his wand and shouted a spell directly at the troll's head, meant to knock it back.

While this should have been more than ehough for an ordinary human, the troll's head only snapped back as the troll let out a cry of rage...but then recovered and looked even angrier.

"Let's all do it together," Harry suggested to the girls. The girls still looked terrified but did as he suggested and got out their wands and pointed it at the troll.

"1, 2, 3!" Harry called out as they all used the same spell at exactly the same time.

Their combined spell did what just he alone could not. The troll's head went flying back as its body followed, crashing onto the bathroom floor backwards head first.

It let out one low groan, but then fell silent and motionless.

Cautiously, all 3 of them approached it.

"Is it...dead?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Not that he would have minded if it was dead, but he could see that it was still breathing slightly.

"No, just knocked out," Harry told her.

"What is a troll doing in the school anyway?" Susan asked, "trolls are really stupid, no way they could get past the school's magical wards without help."

"Maybe somebody let it in as a joke or something?" Harry surmised. He could almost see the Weasley twins doing that.

"Not a very fun joke, we nearly got killed!" Susan complained, "jokes should only be made if they aren't at the expense of other people, in this case us. This is just plain criminal and dangerous joke or not...I hope whoever did it gets severely punished and convinced never to do such a thing again."

While Susan was all about being nice to others, she also believed very strongly in justice.

"If it hadn't been for you Harry I don't know what we would have done, that was some quick thinking," Hermione praised him, "I'm guessing you read about a troll's weak point being their head?"

"Yes," He confirmed, a bit proud of himself for remembering and using it that knowledge so well under such pressure.

At that several teachers, including Professor McGonagall, Professor Flitwick, and Professor Sprout entered as they looked on with horrified looks on their faces as they gazed at the still unconscious troll.

"What happened?" Professor McGonagall demanded.

"Me and Hermione were using the bathroom," Susan explained, deciding not to go into any details about why they were in the bathroom to protect Hermione's privacy, "and Harry was outside waiting for us when the troll came over and...bashed the door down and tried attacking us. Fortunately Harry was really brave and protected and saved us by taking the troll down."

"It was a team effort," Harry corrected wanting to give the 2 girls the recognition that they deserved too.

All 3 Professors looked at them incredulously before realizing that was probably what actually happened.

Professor McGonagall finally said, "Well I suppose you 3 really are putting into practice what you are learning at school. Five points to each of you...now then why don't you all go sound the all clear, we've got more than a few very terrified students who heard about the troll getting in and who would like to know you've already dealt with the situation. We will be examining the troll and figuring out just who or what caused a troll to get in the castle."

All 3 of them nodded and headed off.


	3. Troll Rewards and Christmas

**Chapter 3**

**Troll Rewards and Christmas with the Bones**

**Harry**

Everyone turned out to be super impressed with them on how they took down a troll, with Harry insisting that it was a team effort, which it really was. He, Hermione, and Susan were forced over the next week to continue to tell the story about what happened over and over again to an almost hero worshipping audience.

After doing so for perhaps the millionth time however, Daphne complained who had been standing nearby listening to them tell a group of 2nd years, "no fair, how come you get to take down a troll and I didn't? All I ever hear now is how you're all troll beaters."

"I'm not complaining," Padma insisted, "you can have all the trolls you want."

"I'll tell you what, the next time a troll gets into the school, you can be the one to go take it down," Harry told Daphne.

Daphne pretended to pump her fist in excitement.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you actually faced it, I'd rather not have gone through it either to be honest," Hermione said shaking her head.

"Just glad nobody got hurt and it was us who were able to deal with it and not somebody else that couldn't and might have gotten hurt or killed," Susan added, "I think it is more important that people focus on trying to find out who was responsible for letting the troll in and not what we did."

"None of the teachers seem to be able to find out just who the culprit was, not even Dumbledore," Padma said.

"The culprit not stupid enough to brag about doing it huh?" Daphne asked, "Now if I were going to let a troll in-"

"You wouldn't though would you?" Susan asked worriedly.

"Of course not, I'm talking hypothetically, I'm a Slytherin not evil," Daphne countered, "well except unless you are the type that does believe that all Slytherins are evil."

"You know we don't think that about you right Daphne?" Padma asked her worriedly.

"Maybe some of the people from your house but I think you've proven yourself by now and I definitely don't think you are evil, much the opposite," Susan observed, "you do your house proud."

"Well thanks Susan," Daphne agreed, "anyway I wouldn't really want to take on a troll, I'm happy to let you have that one, I just figured it would make me look really heroic and badass. Then get all the attention you 3 have been getting. Yet I can see that it just wouldn't be worth it."

"I'd rather things just go back to normal," Harry complained, "I'm sure they will soon enough, but I'd rather just be treated the same as everybody else, I'm no hero, I was just doing what I needed to do to make sure we survived, nothing more."

"Modest too," Padma observed, "and it was really brave of you Harry."

At that, she couldn't seem to resist giving him a kiss on the cheek.

He touched the spot where she had done so as he looked at a seriously blushing Padma.

"On second thought, maybe taking down a troll does have its benefits," Harry said, causing them all to laugh and Padma to blush even more.

"Don't expect a kiss from me," Daphne told him, folding her arms.

"Then I'll give you one," Susan told him as she went and kissed him on his other cheek, causing both of them to blush.

"It doesn't help that you girls all happen to be so pretty," Harry admitted.

All 4 girls blushed at that.

"Do you really think so?" Hermione asked tentatively as she played with her thick hair a bit.

"Of course I do, you included, what's not to like about you?" Harry insisted.

Hermione studied him for a moment as if making sure he was really telling the truth before then frowing as she confessed, "that's actually kind of the reason that we were even in the bathroom in the first place. I know I shouldn't have let Ron and his friends get to me but I get kind of self-conscious sometimes, that I come on too strong and that people won't like me or that I won't be able to have any real, long lasting friends, or that I'm not pretty enough or-"

"Don't worry about it Hermione, we've all been there," Padma told her loyally, "being a twin it often feels like for me like I'm not really special enough because I have someone who looks just like me."

"Yeah and you really are pretty Hermione," Susan reassured her, "and you'll only continue to get more so. I give you only a couple years and you'll be having to fight boys off, I guarantee it."

"Any boy would be lucky to have you Hermione," Harry added honestly.

Hermione smiled at the compliments.

"You've earned a kiss from me too just for that," Hermione told him as she bravely went and kissed his cheek too.

"What is this Kiss Harry Day?" Daphne asked.

"Yeah, it's a good day," Harry told them.

Daphne sighed and said, "I guess you're probably expecting one from me now?"

"I don't expect anything from you Daphne," Harry told her, "just you being yourself."

Daphne smiled and said, "no you aren't getting a kiss but you're already getting too good at this, I can tell you're going to cause lots of problems for us down the road Harry."

He was a bit confused just what she meant but she didn't elaborate. At any rate, Hermione then suggested that they all get back to studying which they did so.

…

**Daphne**

Harry clearly had no idea just what he was doing in making himself more irresistible to the girls in the study group and in a way it actually only made him more endearing, Daphne thought. She might have just thought it was simply an act if she didn't know any better but Harry was just genuinely a great boy. She'd been doing a little harmless flirting with him, nothing too serious but just enough to see if he might be interested in her at all. It seemed that he was, even though he was too young to realize this, but the problem was he seemed to be just as interested as the other girls in their study group.

If she was honest with herself, marrying Harry Potter would be the best match you could possibly get for a witch in the wizarding world and it was never too early to be thinking ahead to who might make a good husband or wife, Pansy Parkinson for example was already in talks along with her parents to set up a betrothal agreement to Draco Malfoy. She wasn't willing to go that far, but thoughts of potentially marrying Harry were on her mind.

Yet in spite of Harry's wealth, fame, magical power, and influence, Harry didn't seem to care at all about those things or using it to benefit himself and in truth she only liked him more for that. Really there wasn't much she didn't like about Harry and she found herself caring less and less about his fame and money to the point that it wouldn't matter to her if he was poor and not famous: she liked him for who he was and she found herself like-liking him more and more.

In truth despite her initial reasons for joining the study group, which they actually were accomplishing as it afforded her plenty of protection from the Slytherins when she had chosen not to go the pureblood supremacist route, she found herself actually having a lot of fun with the members of the study group in addition to learning a lot, way more than she would have been able to on her own or with anyone else in the school.

They all came from different backgrounds and had different personalities, but it definitely worked for them as it offered different perspectives and different ways of looking at things and she quite liked each of the other members of the study group, she could even see them becoming lifelong friends.

…

**Harry**

As time went by people did indeed forget about the troll incident and talk about it less and less. Instead Harry and his study group were continuing to do very, very well in classes to the point where at the beginning of the class they just began demonstrating the spell or what they were supposed to have learned in class before then spending most of the class time working on other things that the teacher set for them as extra work.

When Christmas break hit however with all the hard work they had been doing, each of the girls were eager to get back to their families as they talked about how much they had missed them and what they were looking forward to getting for Christmas.

When asked about his plans, as usual he kept it vague about his Muggle relatives as he didn't like talking about them and merely claimed that they were busy and had other plans and he would be staying at school for the holidays.

"Oh no you don't Harry," Susan insisted, "you aren't spending Christmas alone at school. You're coming home with me if you don't have anywhere else to go."

"Really?" He asked in surprise.

"Of course, I already asked my mum and Aunt if it was okay to have some friends over for Christmas and they said the more the merrier," Susan said, "any of you are invited any time."

"I'll ask my mum if I can visit," Padma told her, "maybe not actual Christmas but any other day should be fine."

"My parents may not let me play with blood traitors and Muggleborns though?" Daphne suggested.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "You know we know better right?"

"Hey, maybe I've just been lying about my parents and they could actually be like that, you don't know them," Daphne pointed out.

"True, but considering how they've raised such a lovely daughter who doesn't think like that, I somehow doubt it," Harry observed.

"You still aren't getting that kiss from me Harry," Daphne teased him.

Despite getting kisses on the cheek from 3 of the girls, it had been just that one time and again only on the cheek. That being said, Daphne continued to tease him about holding out on her kiss to him.

"I know, just stating a fact," Harry argued, "I'm not looking to get anything out of it."

"Alright, you're right," Daphne finally admitted, "my parents couldn't care less about blood status, thank goodness, can't imagine how I would feel if I had Malfoy's parents."

"Then you would have ended up like Malfoy," Hermione observed.

"I sort of feel bad for him for that," Padma commented.

"Why? The fact that he is super rich and with a father that is very politically powerful?" Daphne argued, "I mean I still would never want to be him or a member of his family but still…"

"Well you can't choose who you are related to, but you can choose how you yourself are going to act," Harry said wisely, thinking of his own less than wonderful Muggle relatives. He'd actually ben raised by some very terrible people but that was no excuse and he fortunately (at least he'd like to think) hadn't ended up at all like them.

….

When Christmas break came, he boarded the train along with the girls a bit nervous to meet Susan's family and spend the holidays with them. Still he was also rather excited to experience his first Christmas with someone who actually cared about him. Susan was really proving to be a great friend, he thought, she was even willing to open up her home and share Christmas with him and her family and the way that she talked about how wonderful Christmases at her house had been, it made him excited to be there too.

Whether he got a lot or any presents didn't matter to him, he was looking forward to really feeling like he was a part of someone's Christmas and not merely look at the Dursleys and them having fun from afar.

After arriving at the train station and giving his goodbyes to each of the other girls, he went with Susan to go find her mother and Aunt.

Upon finding them, Susan gleefully smiled and ran over to go hug them both, which was happily returned.

He lingered in the background, feeling a bit awkward as Susan animatedly began talking to them.

He also couldn't help but first notice that both Susan's mother and Aunt were VERY well endowed. If Susan were to end up that big…

At that he had to shake himself at the rather naughty thought.

"Mum, Aunty, this is Harry!" Susan introduced him.

Susan's mother smiled and teased, "ah, when you said you were planning on bringing a friend home I didn't know it would be a boy!"

"I woud have thought we still had a few years before you started doing that," Her Aunt Amelia teased her as well.

Susan blushed as she said, "Harry and I are just friends and he didn't have anywhere else to go for Christmas."

"Well then he was welcome to share it with us," Susan's mother invited warmly as she held out her hand for him to shake, "pleased to meet you Harry, Susan's told me a lot of good things about you in her letters."

"Pleased to meet you and Susan's said a lot of good thing about you too," Harry told her before doing the same with Susan's Aunt.

He felt a bit more intimidated with Susan's Aunt Amelia, mainly because of her position in the Ministry, but she also greeted him warmly.

"Pleased to meet you Madame Bones," He said as respectfully as he could.

"Please call me Amelia," She told him, "I figure if you were going to be staying with us for the Holidays you don't need to be so formal, besides it might be confusing with me and my sister both around."

He also noticed that both her mother and Aunt's attention went briefly to his scar, they clearly knew who he was but chose to just ignore it for the most part and just treat him like a person, which he was grateful for. He suspected that Susan may have said something in one of her letters warning them about that.

Still he would have liked it to help him impress them a bit more as he wanted them to like him for Susan's sake.

He then offered to carry Susan's suitcases for her which earned a thanks from Susan and a wink as if to say this was a smart move from her mother.

As they walked out of the train station, Susan was more than happy to dominate the conversation as she regaled her mother and Aunt about how her studies were going, which both of them seemed impressed.

"I think you just might end up the best Bones yet the way that you are going," Her Aunt Amelia praised.

Susan blushed and said, "oh I don't know about that, especially in comparison to the 2 of you, but I try."

"The Bones Family is one of the oldest magical families in Britain Harry," Amelia explained to him, "we also have the distinction of being the only matriarchal family, meaning that the family is usually run by the women and their husbands usually take the Bones Family name not the other way around."

"You date back to Willa Bones, back in 343 A.D. correct?" Harry asked them, "she is most famous for having found a cure for pixiepox."

"That's right," Susan's mother said, quite impressed.

In truth he'd been sure to research Susan's family just to once again try to impress them.

"I'm also looking forward to seeing the Bones ancestral home," Harry observed, "I hear that it is the largest home in Britain."

"Even makes Malfoy's home look small," Susan commented.

"It's much too big for just the 3 of us though," Amelia admitted, "we actually don't use most of it anymore. Back in the day the Bones family was quite large but with plenty of wars, including the most recent one decimating our numbers...the family size has severely dwindled."

Susan had mentioned once that both her father and uncle had been killed in the war with Voldemort and both her mother and Aunt had never remarried, never finding men as good as the ones that they had lost.

By now, they were out of the train station and inside a nearby empty alley before Amelia looked around before saying, "alright, I think we are safe from any Muggles noticing us, I just cast a notice-me-not charm just in case though. Harry have you ever done side-along apparition before?"

"No, but I've read about it," Harry said.

"Well if you are okay with it, I'll side-along apparate you while Karen apparates Susan."

He nodded in agreement, noting that apparently Susan's mother's name was actually Karen.

After taking his hand and making sure he was ready Amelia apparated them both over to the house.

Apparition felt very strange, like being squeezed through a tube...but then only a moment later he opened his eyes to find that he was now inside a vast home.

He looked around as the ceilings seemed to go sky high and the hallways seemed to go forever.

"Welcome to my home Harry," Susan introduced.

He was quite impressed as she decided to then take him on the tour, taking him past room after room, most of them unoccupied and unused, although there was a large extended family of 12 house elves dedicated to keeping it clean.

"Would sirs be wanting something?" One of them asked.

"Um, no thank you," Harry told them. He'd never met a house elf before but he had read about them and their overwhelming devotion to whatever family they were bound to serve. Hermione had been most cross upon learning about house elves especially when Susan admitted she had some.

Yet these house elves looked quite happy to be here and Susan mentioned that they made sure never to mistreat them or take them for granted.

"I suppose if any of them ever did want to leave they could, we would be sad if they did because they are almost like family, but they all seem to be very happy here anyway," Susan said, "with so many of them though and the house not used much and requiring little upkeep we've been giving them charity work to do, this Christmas for example we had them make toys for the less fortunate, sort of like a real life Santa Claus type thing...just don't tell my Aunt that makes her Santa, it'll make her feel fat."

Having gotten little to no toys growing up himself, the toys he had he got from Dudley breaking them first, he couldn't help but appreciate such a generous idea.

"Your family really seems awesome!" He told Susan enthuasiastically, causing her to blush at the compliment.

"Thanks, I just hope to live up to all the other Bones and their family name," She said.

"I'd say you're already off to a great start," He told her, causing her to blush some more.

Her eyes then spotted a particular house elf she seemed not to recognize.

She bent down to look at him as she asked kindly, "hello, what's your name little elf, I don't recognize you, are you new?"

"Dobby, Master Susan," Dobby introduced himself with a little bow, "me is pleased to serve you and the Bones Family."

Amelia noticed them talking to Dobby and explained, "I actually won Dobby from Lucius Malfoy in a bet. He wasn't at all happy to lose his house elf that was for sure...I particularly enjoyed taking Dobby away from him."

"I think you mentioned something about that in one of your letters," Susan said, "about that poor house elf being mistreated and you getting them from the Malfoys."

Susan then bent down again to look at Dobby eye to eye as she asked him sweetly, "are you happy here Dobby?"

"Oh yes!" Dobby said enthusiastically, "Dobby loves helping the Bones family. Dobby shall be happy to serve the Bones family forever!"

"Good I'm glad," Susan said smiling at him.

She inquired a little further about him, including some of the toys that Dobby had helped make for the less fortunate which Dobby was more than happy to tell about.

After getting done talking with Dobby and some of the other house elves for a moment, all of which were happy to have Susan back for the Christmas holidays, Susan finished her tour of the house with him before showing him to his room so he could change out of his school robes.

Once he had done so, he went to go rejoin Susan who had also just changed.

Susan's mother seemed to be looking Susan over now that she was no longer wearing the very flowing school robes and commented, "looks like you've already outgrown the bras I got for you."

Susan blushed as she noticed that he was there.

"What, it is nothing to be ashamed of and I'm sure that Harry here has noticed," Her mother pointed out.

Indeed he most certainly had noticed. In the times that he had seen Susan out of her school robes and was wearing something a bit more form fitting, he couldn't help but indeed notice that Susan was already developing rather well and considering just how well endowed her mother and Aunt were he could see just where she had gotten it from.

"We'll have to go out and go shopping for some new bras for you," Her mother suggested to her.

Susan was still blushing a great deal as she glanced over at him but nodded in thanks.

At any rate Susan decided to change the subject by offering to let him go see her flying broom that she had left at home as first years weren't allowed to have their own brooms at Hogwarts along with an offer to let him fly one of the other family brooms which he happily accepted.

He had quite enjoyed flying when they were learning how to at school.

….

On Christmas morning, he was awoken by Susan saying excitedly, "wake up Harry, it's Christmas!"

He wearily woke up as he went and looked at the alarm clock on the bed's side table.

"It's only 5 in the morning," He told Susan as he tried putting his blankets back on him and putting his head back on his pillow.

"Oh come on Harry!" Susan insisted, still excited, "let's go wake up my Aunt and Mother!"

Susan seemed to have become a little kid again and was just eager to celebrate Christmas. You really couldn't fault her and it was actually rather cute to him.

Knowing he likely wouldn't get back to sleep anyway he said grudgingly, "oh alright, I'm up."

Unsurprisingly however both Susan's mother and Aunt were even less excited at being woken up so early than he was but after Susan's pleading they both finally got up, still dressed in their pajamas like he and Susan still were.

"Do you have any Christmas morning traditions Harry?" Karen, Susan's mother asked.

"Well I would normally make breakfast for everyone," Harry said, which wasn't really a Christmas tradition, more like an everyday one at the Dursleys, but he chose to leave that part out.

"Very nice, we usually choose to have us make the breakfast rather than have the house elves do it for Christmas," Karen told him.

"Well I would be happy to make you all breakfast this morning?" Harry offered.

Karen however shook her head and said, "oh no, you're our guest, we couldn't make you do that."

"It would be the least I could do for letting me spend the Christmas holidays with you and your family," Harry again offered.

After refusing him again, he eventually convinced him to let him help, which Susan volunteered to help too.

Susan's mother seemed rather impressed by his cooking skills, which he of course had gotten from cooking for the Dursleys every day, but again he left that part out.

At any rate, the breakfast, big to satisfy an entire house worth of students at Hogwarts, but shared by just him, the Bones, and the house elves consisted of eggs, waffles, toast, sausages, bacon, yogurt, the list went on and on.

"I'm going to have trouble getting into my clothes after this," Amelia complained, "this and that desk job I have certainly hasn't helped my figure since I got promoted from the auror squad."

"I think you look great Aunty," Susan told her Aunt kindly.

Honestly Harry had to agree with her, while Amelia was 35 years older than him, she still looked incredible. Of course it also helped that witches and wizards aged more slowly after hitting physical maturity, Dumbledore for example was over 150 years old.

"So are we ready to open presents?" Karen asked.

"Ooh yay! Presents!" Susan said happily.

He went over with them to look at and then open all of their presents. He hadn't been expecting much but was surprised to see a nice sized pile of presents addressed to him.

Susan went over to her own pile of presents and each of them in turn began opening presents, even the house elves all got something despite their protests at having been given too much.

He particularly enjoyed Susan's squeal of delight at having opened his present to her, a gold necklace that he had gotten the Bones Family crest put on the end of it.

"I love it Harry," She told him thankfully as she gave him a hug.

As for himself he really didn't care just what he got, more enjoying just being part of the Bones Family Christmas and seeing their delighted reactions at opening their presents.

He tried to skip opening his presents several times enjoying them opening their presents more before they wouldn't let him any longer.

He ended up getting presents from Hermione, Padma, Daphne, and of course Susan which they all turned out to be books, which he appreciated very much nonetheless.

Amelia and Karen however had gotten him some new clothes after stealthily trying to learn his size.

"Are all your non-school clothes so totally baggy?" Karen asked him curiously, "I mean wizards robes tend to be rather roomy to begin with so I know it is a fashion trend among some, but still we thought you might like some that are more accurately fit you."

"Well most of my clothes are ones that my cousin gave me and he's quite a bit bigger than I am," Harry admitted.

"Don't you have any clothes that your Muggle relatives got for you?" Amelia asked, sounding concerned.

"It's fine," He tried to reassure them.

Amelia however pressed as she asked, "you know I don't think you've said much about your Muggle relatives, what are they like?"

"Aunty, Harry doesn't like talking about them," Susan warned.

"I'm just curious," Amelia defended.

"They are okay," Harry said, not wanting Amelia to worry about him on his account, "why don't we just get back to opening presents?"

She reluctantly did so as they went through another round of present opening as they all opened their last presents.

Since he had skipped himself several times, he still had the last present as he opened it up to find a very odd looking cloak.

Amelia looked surprised as she said with great interest, "that's an Invisibility Cloak!"

"It turns you invisible?" Harry asked in surprise as he tried it on and put the cloak around his torso, only for it to disappear.

"That's really cool Harry," Susan commented, actually looking a bit jealous.

In truth he couldn't see himself actually using the Invisibility Cloak much, he just wasn't the type to try and use it the way most boys might, such as sneaking out after hours in school or perhaps spy inside the girl's bathroom or something. Besides his study group friends, who were all girls themselves and had seen him get the invisibility cloak for Christmas would definitely kill him if they caught him trying to spy on him. He would never betray their trust anyway.

"Who is it from?" Susan's mother asked.

Harry looked then for a card or something that said who it came from but couldn't find anything.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Amelia said, smiling, "I'm guessing it came from Dumbledore who might not have wanted to make a big deal out of giving a student, even you a present so as not to show favoritism. Still it isn't exactly a present, if it is the Invisibility Cloak I think it is, it actually belonged to your father and somehow Dumbledore must have gotten hold of it for safekeeping until he could give it to you."

"My father had this Invisibility Cloak?" Harry asked, now treasuring it more.

"Your father and I served for a time on the Auror Squad," Amelia confessed, "he was a good man and a great Auror."

Having not known this about Amelia, he pressed her for more information about his father, which she was more than happy to do so, telling him a couple funny stories about him.

"I actually knew your mother at school," Karen admitted, "she was in the year below me and in a different house but I still knew her, she was the smartest and best witch in the school. I actually used to get annoyed when she would be able to do spells even I couldn't do yet."

At learning that she knew his mother he also got her to share a few stories that she remembered about his mother.

Towards the end, he couldn't help but cry a little.

"Thank you," He told them gratefully, "this really has been the best Christmas ever for me."

All 3 Bones women smiled and said, "you're very welcome Harry. We're glad to have you with us too."


	4. Dumbledore's Challenge

**Chapter 4**

**Dumbledore's Challenge**

**Harry**

Over the Christmas holidays the study group had mostly just relaxed and enjoyed spending time with their families as well as with each other but after going back to school, he and the girls redoubled their efforts to try and study hard. Not so much the regular coursework, they had already finished that, but instead they got to work on other extra spells and subjects for them to focus on.

Hermione was also talking of getting them ahead for next year.

At any rate as the school year started to get closer to the end, one night while the study group was going over material for next year to continue to get ahead, Dumbledore surprisingly visited them as he asked interestingly, "students, I have something I would like you to do for me if you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course, Professor, what would you like us to do?" Hermione immediately agreed.

Up until now Dumbledore had never spoken to them at least not directly so it was very interesting that he would come to see them and ask something of them.

"I have a sort of obstacle course that I'd like you to test out," Dumbledore said, "ordinarily I wouldn't ask this of first year students but I think considering just how advanced each of you are it will be a good test of your skills and a good test of just how good the obstacle course is."

Each of them sat up straighter in their chairs, quite eager now to try and impress in front of the headmaster, one world famous at that.

"We would love to," Hermione immediately agreed again for them all, looking eager to impress as she seemed hardly able to stay in her chair.

Dumbledore smiled with a twinkle in his eye as he said, "very well. Meet me tonight at 7 pm in front of the third corridor."

Which was of course off limits and Dumbledore had been the one to warn them in first place, Harry thought which as he looked around he noted that they all seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Yes and you'll soon discover just why it is ordinarily off limits," Dumbledore admitted, answering their unspokemon question as if having studied the expression on their faces, "however I think all 5 of you will do just fine and if not I'll be on hand to help out if necessary if something goes wrong."

All 5 of them nodded. Hermione was the most excited to do it, but they were all curious just what Dumbledore had in store for them.

…

They met Dumbledore at 7 that night in front of the 3rd corridor, which none of them had of course been to before. Their study group were certainly not rule breakers and hadn't been anywhere near the 3rd corridor until now.

Dumbledore led them down the hallway and to a big door as he stopped in front of it.

"You can begin when you are ready," Dumbledore told them.

None of them were exactly sure just what awaited them, but Harry decided he might want to try and go first as he tried the door.

Locked.

Hermione however merely smiled and then waved her wand and used an alohamora spell to unlock it.

That was easy, Harry thought, but of course simply unlocking a door was obviously just the beginning.

When Harry opened the door deciding he ought to be the brave one and go first he suddenly realized just why the door had been locked. It wasn't really to keep anyone out that was really trying to get inside, it was to let...that thing not get out.

There were 3 rounds of loud barking and Harry immediately slammed the door shut and locked it.

"It's a cerberus," Harry admitted breathlessly and more than a bit fearfully.

"Cool!" Daphne exclaimed, "can I brag about taking that down?"

Of course Daphne hadn't really thought over just how they were supposed to even do that.

The other 3 girls looked quite dismayed and worried however.

"You certainly know how to give out difficult tests Professor Dumbledore," Padma observed.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "Thank you although I can't take too much credit for that one, that would be Hagrid's doing, his pet he got last year."

"His pet?" Padma questioned.

"I like dogs, just not with 3 heads and are the size of dragons," Susan noted.

"Well how are we going to get past it then?" Hermione asked, seeming to accept this challenge.

"We could fly past it," Harry suggested.

"We don't have any brooms and even then I wouldn't risk it, you could probably get past it Harry but definitely not all of us without getting eaten," Hermione surmised.

"Why don't we just get 3 really big steaks and feed it to it?" Padma suggested.

"Or throw a really large ball at it and play with it, it is still a dog or 3 dogs after all?" Daphne pointed out.

"I doubt we could distract it for long," Hermione said, still thinking over what to do.

A cerberus wasn't exactly something they had studied yet, he'd only briefly read about it, never believing that he would ever have to actually face one.

They all stood there for several minutes looking stumped.

"None of you have figured it out yet?" Daphne teased.

"You mean you already have and didn't say anything?" Hermione asked in annoyance.

"I was waiting for you all to first, I didn't want to spoil anything," Daphne said.

"Could you please tell us Daphne?" Susan pleaded.

"What are you willing to give me if I do?" Daphne asked.

"Just tell us," Hermione demanded in annoyance.

"Alright, fine," Daphne said, "can't blame a girl for trying. Well in Greek mythology, the Cerberus in that story would fall asleep when Orpheus would play music for it."

"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed, quite pleased that they were able to figure it out, "we just need to summon or make a musical instrument and-"

"Already on it," Susan said as she began transfiguring one of the torch sticks on the wall into a flute. Once done, Hermione then set the flute to automatically play a certain tune, a lullaby by the sound of it.

"It would help to have someone singing too," Hermione observed.

They all looked at Padma. Padma's eyes however widened.

"Me?" Padma asked in surprise.

"Why not, you really do have a lovely voice, I've heard you sing before," Harry told her.

Padma blushed at the compliment and agreed as she began singing so Hermione could record it onto the self playing flute.

After a few minutes as they listened to Padma's voice along with the music, they felt satisfied with what they had come up with.

"I think I might want to keep the flute afterwards, you really do have a lovely voice Padma," Harry told her, causing her to blush even more.

They then unlocked the door again to look at the cerberus.

At first the cerberus looked poised to attack them, but as soon as the music and Padma's singing wafted over to it, all 3 of its heads began to droop and then the giant dog lay down as it began to sleep.

Thankful that this worked they cautiously moved closer to it. Harry spotted what appeared to be a trap door it was partially standing on. He had the girls help him move one of the dog's paws off of the trap door and then he opened it to peer inside. It didn't appear to be that far of a drop but he shined a light down and saw what appeared to be a giant plant.

He immediately knew what it was, Devil's Snare, and he immediately knew how to deal with it as he summoned a huge ball of light and sent it down at it...and immediately the plant recoiled and shrank away from him.

"Would you mind slowly floating me down?" He asked Hermione.

Hermione nodded and cast a Wingardium Leviosa spell on him as he floated down through the trap door. While he could have tried landing on the Devil's Snare to break his fall, he'd really rather not risk making the plant angry and try to squeeze the life out of him.

Once he reached the bottom safely he gave the all clear to the girls and one by one they dropped down into his arms with him slowing their descent with Wingardium Leviosa.

As the last one Daphne landed into his arms and he set her down, she teased, "getting handsy there are we Harry?"

"I was not," Harry insisted, looking at each of the other girls to make sure that they knew he hadn't been. They however knew Daphne well enough by now and didn't seem at all worried about it.

Daphne grinned and said, "oh I know you weren't, just messing with you."

At that, Dumbledore came down after them, still silently evaluating how they were all doing. He however didn't need Harry's help and instead floated down effortlessly himself.

That seemed a nifty spell he'd have to figure out how to do later, Harry thought.

Anyway, they moved on through the obstacle course. The next area was a room full of golden and silver keys whizzing about. Obviously they needed to find and get the right key to open the door ahead and somehow manage to catch it. Or…

"Alohamora," Hermione tried to get it open but to no avail.

"Figured it was worth a shot at least," Hermione said.

"I've got this one," Padma said a bit proudly at her solution as she then stuck out her wand and said, "Aguamenti!"

At that a burst of water erupted from her wand spraying water all over the flying keys and drenching them, making them incapable of flight as their little wings were soaked and they all clattered to the floor.

They all searched for what appeared to be the right, matching key to the door. Finally Hermione found it and tried it out on the lock, which did indeed work as the lock clicked and they opened the door and moved on.

The next room had a giant troll in it...and they had already dealt with one of those before.

"Now is your chance to take down a troll," Harry teased Daphne, "don't worry we'll let you have it all to yourself."

Each of the other girls smiled and stepped back along with him, leaving Daphne alone to face it.

Daphne looked dubiously at the troll which fortunately hadn't noticed them yet.

"Yeah, go right ahead Daphne, show us," Hermione teased her more.

"How about we all just do it together?" Daphne suggested nervously.

The rest of them went back up next to her, they had of course just been messing with her and giving her a taste of her own medicine, they'd never have left her to face a troll on her own.

On 3 all 5 of them aimed at the troll's head. The troll was no match for all 5 of them as it went down and was knocked out in a single combined blow.

Moving on however they discovered a giant chess board.

Oh no, this one might be a problem, Harry thought. At least at school none of them had ever played chess, being more focused on their studies.

Susan looked around at each of them and guessed, "don't worry I've got this one."

"I think you are the only one who knows how to play wizard chess," Hermione informed her.

"Thanks mum for teaching me," Susan said, "she probably never thought I would actually have use of it like this though."

"I don't think we need to play the entire game," Padma pointed out, "just get us to the opposite end of the board."

"Good point," Hermione agreed as they took positions of pieces that seemed to be missing.

Harry suspected that might be part of the enchantment, although he couldn't be sure why it hadn't counted Dumbledore which was still with them. Perhaps Dumbledore had cast some sort of spell without them noticing that had left him out.

At any rate, Susan made moves to go against the magical AI opponent with the objective of getting across the board as fast as they could but safely.

She lost most of their pieces that way but at least they got past the chessboard all safely and they moved on to the next room.

Inside the next room however was a huge wall of flame at the far side and then in front of the flames was a big table where sat 7 different potions.

Hermione also found a scroll with a poem on it, talking about which potions not to drink, while one would let you get past the flames unscathed.

Of course if you really wanted to make it challenging you wouldn't have any of the potions being capable of protecting you from the flames and the poem would lie and have all the potions actually be poison.

"It is this one," Hermione finally said, holding up the smallest potion.

"That is definitely not enough for all of us though," Harry pointed out.

"We'll have to choose one of us to take the potion and move on," Hermione announced.

"I should be the one to risk it," Harry said bravely. He'd rather he be the one to take the risk than any of the girls.

"Why? Because you are the boy and we're the girls and you're trying to be all brave and noble?" Hermione asked him.

"Well, yes," Harry admitted.

He was inclined to argue with Hermione when suddenly Padma walked over and pressed a switch, causing the flames to go out and no longer blocking their path.

Each of them looked incredulously at her as Padma merely shrugged and said, "what? I just figured I might as well try looking for a way to put the flames out before we all argue over who gets to risk their life drinking a risky potion and jumping through fire."

"It's so obvious nobody besides you Padma would have thought to look," Hermione said, sounding impressed.

"I like you Padma, I really do," Daphne told her, causing Padma to smile.

At that, they all walked on and into what appeared to be the very last room. Inside however was just one very large mirror.

"Is that...?" Susan asked incredulously as she looked at Dumbledore.

"It is," Dumbledore confirmed, "the Mirror of Erised."

"The Mirror of Erised," Susan explained, "it is supposed to show you your deepest desire of your heart."

That struck him as he wondered just what he might see as his greatest and deepest desire of his heart.

Susan was first to try and test it out as she walked in front of the mirror, which once she had she looked like she might cry.

"What do you see?" Daphne asked.

"My family," Susan said with wonder, "all of my family all alive and well. Everybody is so happy it makes me want to cry. Harry, you're here too but you're-."

Susan stopped as she blushed as red as her hair as she refused to finish. Instead she stepped back and offered to let the next of them see what they saw in the mirror.

Daphne was next, who also blushed and wouldn't say anything about what she had seen.

"What's the matter?" Padma asked, trying to make a joke out of it but not entirely succeeding, "embarrassed about your greatest desire being untold riches, fame, and power?"

"I was worried it might be to be honest," Daphne answered as she still studied the mirror, "but no, thankfully much to my relief it most certainly isn't. All it shows me is an older me, I'm very beautiful-"

"No surprise there that would be a desire of yours," Hermione interrupted.

"No," Daphne said, looking offended, "what really gets me though and makes me the most happy is that I have a large family of such beautiful children, they all just look so beautiful, more so than I could have ever imagined myself being. I also have a husband and we look so happy together."

Daphne gave him a glance at that but then immediately turned away right after and stepped away from the mirror.

"Sorry to judge you like that," Hermione apologized.

"No it's okay," Daphne said, "it's enlightening to see what my true desires actually are. Sometimes I think maybe I am too greedy but it turns out deep down...I just want what so many take for granted and already have."

"You do have a heart Tin Man," Padma said before then smiling and giving Daphne a hug, "not that any of us ever really doubted it, it is nice that you realize that too."

Harry nodded approvingly.

It was Padma's turn to go next and she only spent a moment in front of the mirror before also blushing.

"What do you see?" Harry asked her.

Padma blushed even more as she merely said, "just the same thing that Daphne saw, me with my own family."

Opting not to dwell on it, Padma then just let Hermione take her turn.

Hermione however also blushed and refused to say anything about what she saw.

Finally it was his turn and he went and stood in front of the mirror with the girls standing just behind him.

"I don't think it is working for me," Harry admitted as he looked back at the girls, "I just see all of you standing there exactly the way that you are behind me."

"Really?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Maybe I'm already just happy having all of you as such good friends to me?" Harry guessed.

"Maybe," Susan said, "I've certainly been very happy with each of us as friends this year."

"Me too," Padma agreed, "best friends I've ever had."

"Oh, I don't like to say it," Daphne grudgingly admitted, "but you know I think all of you are awesome right?"

"Thanks Daphne," Hermione said as she sighed and said, "I don't know what I would do without all of you, before I met all of you I didn't even know what having friends was even like. Now that I do, I wouldn't trade you all for all the books in the world."

"Now that's a compliment!" Padma praised, causing them all to laugh.

He studied the mirror for a moment longer as he wondered about what they had all seen. From what he could tell, none of them seemed to really have any greedy or evil greatest desires and was enlightening to see most of them just wanted to be happy with their family and with each other. He did wonder just why he didn't see his own family including both his parents alive and well like Susan had, but he'd like to think that he'd matured enough to realize his desires should be things that he already had and he just appreciated having them, namely his very good friends. He didn't want them to be anything they were not and was happy just happy having them as they were.

After one final look into the mirror he then stepped back and looked away.

"Well congratulations to you all then," Dumbledore praised them, having only watched them until this point, "you successfully completed my obstacle course. I would give each of you points, but with you being from different houses it would mostly cancel each of your points out with just a little extra for Gryffindor. So instead I propose a different reward: each of you have done very well this year, far better in fact than Hogwarts as seen in decades out of any student, much less 5. Yet being in different houses and therefore having different class schedules makes things difficult I'm sure for you."

"We've managed to work it out Professor," Hermione told him reassuringly.

"Nevertheless," Dumbledore continued, "me and some of the other faculty members have discussed it and we've decided that beginning next year, you will each have combined advanced classes together for most of your classes. We considered just simply moving all of you up a year but ultimately decided not to. I have no doubt you could all finish Hogwarts in half the time students normally are given but that would deprive you of a chance to grow up and develop not just as students but as teenagers as you develop into no doubt outstanding adults. I am looking forward as your headmaster to see how each of you turn out. I'm expecting great things out of you."

"Thank you Professor," Harry told him honestly.

He could tell from the smiles on the girls' faces that they really liked this idea. He was looking forward to having all of his friends with him in every class from now on.

Dumbledore however then seemed to say to himself and was only barely audible, "I'll have to make sure that stone is moved from here too."

Harry was rather curious just what he meant but he could tell Dumbledore wouldn't be willing to tell him.

He did however to get ask him, "Professor, I was just wondering about if you knew why I survived Voldemort as a baby?"

Dumbledore looked surprised but admitted, "your mother actually used a spell on you, a very powerful spell that required her sacrificing her life for yours in order to work. It was your mother's love for you that saved you and protected you. Voldemort fortunately for you severely underestimated the power of love."

"I see," Harry said, feeling overcome with emotion. His mother must have loved him very much for her to do that for him.

Dumbledore then looked over at his friends who were now standing a bit of a distance away so that he could talk to Dumbledore privately and commented to him, "and it's nice to see that you've found friends that love you as well."

Harry smiled and admitted, "yeah, I would say that I have."

Dumbledore then mysteriously looked at him and told him, "I have a feeling that love for your friends will save you too."

…

The school year after that wound to a close with seemingly nothing interesting happening...that is until only the day before school officially closed for the summer.

Dumbledore stood up gravely to announce that both Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell had unfortunately gotten into an argument on the third corridor and killed each other.

It was certainly a surprise, but it didn't seem anybody was really too upset at the passing of either of them, except some of the Slytherins when it came to Snape.

Putting two and two together however, Harry went over to Dumbledore afterwards and asked him curiously, "you were hiding something on the third corridor weren't you?"

"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed gravely, "something valuable, but once I realized that it could be gotten to by only merely some...while very intelligent and powerful...but still just first years, it very clearly needed to be moved. Unfortunately it appears that poor Professors Quirrell and Snape didn't realize this and in the process of trying to get to it...well it appears to be a good example of how greed corrupts. It is however gratifying to see that you all at least based on what you saw in the Mirror of Erised wanted no part of that."

"Why should I care about money or power?" Harry questioned, "I just am happy to have my friends and the ability to gain knowledge for knowledge sake, what more could I ask for?"

"Well spoken," Dumbledore said with a nod, seeming quite impressed.

…..

**Dumbledore**

As Dumbledore watched all the students leave for the summer, he reflected on his secretly new favorite student Harry Potter.

He was far better of a student and even better of a person than Dumbledore could have ever hoped.

While Harry had started out the year shy and unaware of his talents and skills, having spent so much time with his friends in their study group had really worked wonders in improving Harry's work ethic, his magical skills, his confidence, and his overall well being. In turn he had also seemed to have a very positive influence on his friends.

It would be very interesting to see just how Harry and his friends ended up over the next 6 years as they went through the rest of their education at Hogwarts.

Yet in the end, Harry still inevitably had a greater destiny, one that a certain prophecy foretold and Dumbledore was quite hesitant to tell him about, he was much too young to know any of that and would only serve to unnecessarily worry him at this point. He should be allowed to just be a kid and have fun with his friends for now. He would tell him when the time was right and he was older and more capable of handling it. For now at least, Harry was certainly unknowingly preparing himself with all of his studying for such a destiny.

Indeed he couldn't help but notice the similarities between himself and Harry, they were both very good students in school first of all and both had or would have destinies to play out in defeating powerful Dark Lords.

Yet he also couldn't help but notice the similarities between Harry and Tom Riddle, Voldemort's real name. As well as both being very good students, they even had feathers from the same phoenix as their core ingredient from their wands, his own phoenix Fawkes in fact.

Differences between the two of them in how and why they gained magical knowledge however was startling. Harry didn't seek power or riches or fame like Tom Riddle obsessively did instead he just genuinely enjoyed learning and especially learning with his good friends. His friendship with and love for his friends would undoubtedly grow as the years went by, perhaps even romantic love he guessed but he'd leave that up to Harry with having 4 different girls that were currently his friends to choose from.

Getting back to what he really was thinking about however was that Amelia Bones had written him and asked if it would be alright for Harry to stay with them for the entire summer. She also expressed some concerns about Harry's own home life at the Dursleys which alarmed him.

He'd placed Harry with the Dursleys in order to use Harry's mother's protection spell still on him to cast an even greater and more powerful spell to protect him from those who wished him harm. Yet if Harry wasn't receiving a safe and happy home life there then he simply couldn't continue to remain there. He would have to investigate himself over the summer.

In the meantime however he had left it up to Harry what he wanted to do and he had seemed quite happy to accept Susan's offer to let him stay with her and her family over the summer. With this Dumbledore was also okay with it if that was what Harry really wanted and besides he trusted that Amelia as well as her sister would make sure to keep Harry safe from harm.


	5. Before Second Year Summer

**Chapter 5**

**Before Second Year Summer**

**Padma**

"Your turn Padma," Susan said.

Padma had to shake herself out of just what she had been thinking about. She had been over at Susan's house with Harry and Susan early on in the summer when unexpectedly a very concerned looking Dumbledore and very angry looking Susan's Aunt Amelia had shown up and asked for Harry who they hadn't seen since.

Padma looked down at the wizard chess board as Susan was teaching her how to play but really neither of them had much heart in the game, they were worried about Harry.

"They've been gone for hours now," Padma commented worriedly as she made her move.

This however only resulted in Susan countering and taking one of her pieces.

"I wonder what it is all about anyway?" Susan asked, also worried.

"I don't know," Padma said. She was very curious herself of course but given the way that Dumbledore and Susan's Aunt were acting she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Some information she had learned was best left alone.

"Crackers and cheese?" The house elf Dobby asked as he came up to the two of them, holding a large platter.

"Thank you very much Dobby," Susan told him sweetly as she smiled at him and took a couple crackers.

Dobby couldn't help but smile back at that. He was rather odd, even for a house elf, but he definitely seemed to be very happy working for and living with the Bones Family, who all made sure to be extra nice to him.

He had apparently been before working for the Malfoy Family and that certainly must have been horrible she thought, no wonder he seemed to be so happy here. However an idea crossed her mind.

"Dobby?" Padma couldn't resist asking, "you wouldn't happen to have any embarrassing stories about Draco Malfoy would you?"

"Padma!" Susan scolded her.

"What? It's Draco," Padma defended, "and wouldn't some people like to know (such as the whole school) if Draco ever wet the bed or wore his clothes inside out or something."

"It still isn't nice to be mean to someone just because they are mean to you in return, it starts a vicious cycle," Susan warned, "besides Dobby doesn't like to talk about his former family."

Dobby did indeed look rather nervous and scared about saying anything bad about his former family even if he no longer was obligated to keep their secrets and it made Padma feel guilty.

"That's okay Dobby," Padma told him gently, "you don't need to tell me anything, I was just curious that's all."

Dobby looked relieved at that as he then offered them more crackers which they both happily accepted.

Susan then asked Dobby how he was doing and what kind of work her mother and Aunt had him doing, which in this case was making some more clothes for himself. Typically house elves when given clothes meant they were forced to leave the service of the family they were bound to, but the Bones Family, Susan's ancestors had long ago hated to see their house elves so poorly dressed and found a loophole for that. If they simply gave the house elves the materials to make their own clothes, not actual clothes and had the house elves make their own clothes, the house elves were then not at all offended and instead considered the opportunity to make their own clothes a great honor, even including the Bones Family crest on all their clothing as a sign of loyalty.

"Dobby is loving making his own clothes," Dobby informed them happily, "Dobby's favorite clothes is socks, Dobby loves socks."

Dobby pointed at the socks he was wearing and had apparently made, with waves of bright colors all down them.

"They look great Dobby, good job," Susan praised him, causing Dobby to practically beam with pride.

In truth, the socks looked quite a bit weird the way he had made them, but they weren't about to tell Dobby that, especially since he seemed so proud of them.

Susan continued to ask him questions for a couple minutes before Dobby finally left to get back to work.

"You're so nice Susan, to everyone," Padma praised her friend, "from a lowly house elf to even Draco Malfoy."

"Well I can't say I can manage to be actually nice to Draco, he definitely tries me too especially if I catch him bullying another student, then I definitely get mad at him," Susan said, but she still looked rather pleased at the compliment.

She had such good friends including Susan, Padma couldn't help but feel. Their study group had really become a lot more than just a study group, while they all had their own distinct personalities, it worked so very well for them as now a group of very good friends.

Her and Susan played wizard chess for a little while longer, Susan was clearly much better at it than her and she could tell that at the beginning Susan was definitely going easy on her to be nice and not discourage her, but after getting the hang of things she felt like she was actually starting to hold her own, making their games much more interesting.

Finally Harry came back, looking like he had been crying and was rather tired from whatever he had been up to.

"Harry!" Susan said brightly as she smiled at seeing him.

"Where did you go?" Padma asked him.

Harry however shook his head and said, "I'd rather not talk about it."

While curious, Padma respected Harry's privacy. Personally however she suspected it had something to do with his former home life, it was really the one subject Harry had ever been reluctant to share about, she hadn't been able to get more than a few sentences from Harry about it in the past.

Harry did however then look at Susan as he surprisingly asked, looking a little bit nervous, "how would you like it if I lived with you for all of our school holidays from now on?"

Susan squealed happily as she said, "I would love that!"

Her enthusiastic reaction made Harry look relieved and quite happy himself.

"Did you think she might not want you to stay with her?" Padma asked him.

"I don't know, I just wanted to be sure," Harry said.

"Of course I would love for you to stay with me and my family, why wouldn't I?" Susan asked him as if he was being silly, "welcome to the family."

Susan then went and gave him a hug, which Harry seemed quite pleased to have as he hugged her back.

Padma was quite pleased for the both of them, but a pang of jealousy hit her as she found herself wishing that Harry would be staying with her and her family, not Susan's. However the thought was quickly banished from her mind, it wasn't like she couldn't come over to visit whenever she wanted.

"Ooh, this is going to be so much fun having you with me all the time," Susan said happily to Harry.

**Harry**

He had decided not to talk about what had happened with the Dursleys and just what Dumbledore and Amelia had done with them to his friends nor did they push him much for information when he clearly didn't want to share, he didn't want to worry them and he'd really rather try to forget his childhood past if he could help it as much as possible.

Besides he was having too much fun as it was to really think about the Dursleys anymore. Despite his slight fears that Susan may not want him becoming a permanent resident in her home, she seemed absolutely thrilled with it and he couldn't be happier getting to now be with the Bones Family, also joined often by his other friends Padma, Hermione, or Daphne.

Sometimes he and Susan went to one of their houses instead.

Meeting their families could be a bit scary though.

Hermione's parents had been the most awkward as Hermione's father had pulled him aside and tried to find out what his intentions were concerning his daughter. He had been convinced he was going to die right there until Hermione's mother came along and rescued him before scolding her husband, pointing out that he was still much too young for that anyway.

Yet he couldn't deny that he was certainly developing certain feelings for each of the girls he called his friends which was really causing him problems. They were supposed to be just his friends and yet...they were all very pretty and getting more so everyday he swore.

It became the most evident when he was over at Susan's house towards the end of the summer and Susan decided to also have Hermione, Padma, and Daphne over for a pool party and go finish up their back to school shopping.

When the girls all came out wearing their swimsuits...he definitely lost all conscious thought.

Most of the girls besides Daphne were wearing somewhat modest one piece swimming suits and they were all still quite young, with most of them only just beginning to develop but it didn't really matter as they all showed off a lot more than he was used to seeing on them.

Each of the girls all noticed the attention he couldn't seem to help giving them but they all blushed a bit and didn't seem to mind.

Daphne, the only one wearing a bikini, a matching light green top and bottom teased him again as she caught him looking at her and asked, "see something you like Harry?"

He had to shake himself as he tried looking anywhere else besides Daphne, but unfortunately he seemed to be surrounded by very pretty girls wearing much less than they normally did and instead he found himself looking at Susan, or more in particular her chest that was bigger than the other girls as she seemed to be developing early and was big for her age.

She however caught him as well and he looked away as he apologized with, "sorry."

"It's alright Harry, I know you can't really help it to a certain extent," Susan said, "just try to be respectful of me and the other girls and we shouldn't have any problems."

Harry nodded, grateful that the girls seemed to understand.

In truth as they got to swimming and having fun with each other playing games in the pool, he noticed more than once that he wasn't the only one just discovering puberty and the attraction to the opposite gender as he noticed each of the girls look at him for longer than they normally would.

He was developing a little himself, partially due to the fact that now that he was away from the Dursleys he was eating much better and was much less stressed and so he was much less thin and scrawny and getting to a more healthy weight and size which it seemed that the girls were noticing now that he was clad only in his swim trunks.

Yet while each of their bodies were indeed changing, they were still all friends and he was definitely very grateful for that.

…

Later on, they all went over to do their school supply shopping. They didn't need a whole lot, but they still figured it would be a good idea nonetheless, in particular to see if there were any new good books out to read and study while in school.

When they got to the book shop however, it seemed that there was a book signing going on featuring Gilderoy Lockhart. Hermione, Susan, and Padma all blushed when they saw him.

"It's him!" Padma exclaimed excitedly.

"Do you think he'll sign my copy of Gadding with Gargoyles?" Hermione asked hopefully.

As 3 of the girls all got in line to get his autograph, he and Daphne lingered back to go look at books.

Daphne however just rolled her eyes when she glanced over at the other 3 girls fawning over Lockhart.

"I take it you aren't as interested as them?" Harry asked.

"Honestly I think he is just too full of himself and a pretty boy," Daphne commented.

Harry couldn't help but grin and point out, "remind you of anyone?"

"Hah, hah, very funny," Daphne said, "I'm not that bad and honestly I can't help but wonder how that guy managed to do all the things he claims he did in his books."

"I've read a bit of some of his books," Harry confessed, "but I didn't really care much for them, entertaining I suppose but not a lot of actual information you can use."

At the sound of his voice, Gilderoy Lockhart glanced up and noticed him standing there.

"Harry Potter!" He exclaimed loudly enough that most of the people pressed around him turned to look at him.

Gilderoy Lockhart strode through the crowd over to him and grabbed him, "so I meet you at last."

"Yeah, hello," Harry greeted him simply, rather annoyed that Lockhart had decided to bring so much attention on him as the whole bookshop full of people were now looking at him.

Lockhart then decided to parade him in front of everyone and even make sure that both of them were standing directly in front of the photographer who took several pictures...it didn't take long before he was already trying to escape, but Lockhart wouldn't let him.

Finally after several more pictures and him having had to give most people autographs right next to Lockhart's, he finally managed to escape to rejoin his friends.

"What? You girls want my autograph too?" He asked sarcastically.

"No thanks, I'll just get it later from you," Daphne teased him.

"Of course we wouldn't ever do that to you Harry, we know you don't like it," Hermione reassured him, looking at each of the girls to make sure they also quickly agreed.

"I'll take an autograph from you," Draco Malfoy surprisingly said as he came up to them, "can you make it out to From Scarhead."

"He can also write To Arrogant, Big Headed Prat if you want," Daphne suggested.

Draco however looked her over, a cold, unsettling look on his face as he commented, "you're looking good Daphne, of course I would expect that of a pureblood, you seen the error of your ways and decided to join me and the true Slytherins yet?"

"Not on your life," Daphne insisted.

Draco however came over to her and touched her cheek, causing Daphne to pull back in annoyance.

Harry however immediately stepped forward to protect her.

"Leave her alone," Harry demanded.

Draco however looked over at his 2 henchmen Crabbe and Goyle who stood just behind him to make sure he had backup before stepping forward and saying, "why don't you make me?"

Of course Draco was taking full advantage of the fact that they couldn't use magic outside of school. In school Draco wasn't stupid enough to ever challenge him, oh he was sure he had wanted to, but considering that he and the girls who he always had around him were all quite magically powerful and top students Draco mainly just avoided him and Harry didn't consider him much of a threat even if he did try something.

However when it came to brute strength, he definitely did have to give the advantage to Crabbe and Goyle who were both nearly twice his size and that was what Draco was counting on especially since he couldn't use magic outside of school to defend himself.

At that moment however, a man with long blonde hair that looked very much like Draco said, "Now, now Draco, play nicely."

The man however then turned from what Harry assumed was his son as he could only be Draco's father to then look at him, a cold, calculating look on his face as he said as if greeting someone clearly beneath him, "ah, Mr. Potter, how…nice to meet you."

"I can't say the same to you," Harry told him coldly.

A look of annoyance crossed Malfoy Senior's face before he then noticed Hermione now standing there, having just gotten Lockhart's autograph as he commented to her, "ah, you must be Ms. Granger, yes Draco's told me all about you...and your parents. Muggles am I right?"

"Not that it is any of your business but yes," Hermione told him, "and I'm proud to call them my parents too."

Malfoy Senior just tutted and shook his head before then surprisingly turning to Padma as he then commented, "then you must be Ms. Patil...one of the 'foreigners' that Hogwarts so graciously allowed in despite my objections."

Harry definitely did not like the way that he said foreigner and clearly neither did Padma. Evidently the Malfoy's prejudice applied to more than just Muggleborns.

Padma was actually born and raised in Britain even though both her parents were from India, but it wouldn't have mattered to Harry and his friends where she was from or who her parents were, and as far as any of them were concerned she was just the same as anybody else, although they did find it cool when Padma told them interesting facts about India and its culture that she had grown up hearing about from her parents.

After looking each of them over a moment longer, Malfoy Senior then told his son, "come Draco, I rather think we ought to get out of the presence of such 'lesser' wizards and witches don't you think? Besides I think it is starting to stink too much being around them."

Watching them go, all of them in the study group shook their heads, not wanting to be around either of the Malfoy's either.

Author's Note: I really did not want the Dursley's abuse to become too much of an issue with the story, frankly it has been done to death as a harry potter fanfiction plot point. I knew I needed to include it, but I really didn't want it to occupy too much time and after some debate and several partial chapter rewrites, I felt that this was the best way for me to handle it without really going into much detail.


	6. Parselmouths?

**Chapter 6**

**Parselmouths?**

**Harry**

All too soon, school started up again and Harry rejoined his study group friends and the rest of his classmates at Hogwarts.

He was however looking forward to this next year particularly because they were all going to get to start their advanced classes all together.

It turned out that they each got a class all to themselves just the 5 of them which he thought was really cool yet he felt a bit too spoiled having Dumbledore make each of the teachers have an extra class just for them.

Most of the teachers however didn't seem to mind at all, especially for such good students such as themselves.

In order to replace the still recently departed Snape and Quirrell who had died at the end of last year, instead Snape had been replaced by a Professor Slughorn, a fat, older, and balding Professor who was way better than Snape at teaching by a mile, but definitely showed blatant favoritism, especially to Harry simply for his celebrity status which Harry didn't appreciate. However it didn't take long before his study group friends were also proving themselves to him and their potion making capabilities, which impressed him enough to start giving all of them recognition and praise as well as quite a few offered treats during classes.

Quirrell was replaced however unfortunately much to his and Daphne's annoyance and Hermione, Susan, and Padma's delight replaced by Lockhart.

It didn't take long however before Harry quickly tired of Lockhart's classes, which mostly involved Lockhart bragging about himself and reading from his books in dramatic fashion.

Not remotely educational either.

Instead Harry found himself trying to study other things during his classes even though Lockhart kept trying to get his attention and involve him in his re-enactments of his many various feats.

Personally for him and Daphne though it seemed to only reinforce their belief that Lockhart didn't actually do the things he said he did in his books but there was no way to prove it as far as they could tell at least not from here in school.

…..

**Padma**

When unpacking her things after getting to Hogwarts, Padma came across what appeared to be a diary among all her other books that she had brought with her. She couldn't remember ever getting it, but since her mum had helped her pack she just assumed that her mum had slipped it in for her to use.

Ordinarily she wasn't the type to keep a diary but after several weeks of classes she ended up getting it out again and with just a little time before bedtime she decided why not and began to write.

At first she just wrote down all the many things that she had learned that day in order to help her remember them and be able to look back on them later on in case she forgot anything but after about a week of diary writing she started to branch out a bit and start writing down some of her feelings.

Her feelings however were rather complicated and she didn't normally like thinking about them, but it was however nice to at least express them here.

She wrote about how it felt being a twin and how somehow Parvati was always considered the pretty twin (they looked exactly alike!). She supposed that she didn't have the same sort of fashion sense as Parvati, never really caring nearly as much about that sort of thing.

Still she did want to be considered beautiful, not just to other people, but one person in particular. Harry.

She had developed a crush on him almost immediately after meeting him for the first time and instead of that stopping after getting to know him so well and spend nearly everyday with him now her feelings for him had only intensified and grown.

She tried to tell herself that she was still young and she shouldn't already be developing such strong feelings for a boy, but she just couldn't help herself. Harry was so nice, and smart, and helpful, and magically powerful, and cute with those dreamy emerald green eyes...

Ooh, yeah she already had it bad for him.

The problem was she wasn't the only one, it seemed all 4 of the girls in their study group were developing feelings for him and it was only a matter of time before one of them or Harry acted on it.

Harry himself it was obvious was quite attracted to each of them in turn but it was anyone's guess just who he would eventually choose.

It likely would not be her though, that seemed certain. She simply couldn't compete with the busty for her age Susan, or the insanely smart Hermione, or the unfiltered and flirty Daphne. All of those girls were smarter, more magically powerful, and prettier than her.

The one thing she did have going for her was her very long shiny black hair that Harry often complimented her on which always caused her to blush when he did so.

You could also argue that she was the only darker skinned girl in their group but frankly she was Indian and women and girls with her skin tone were ridiculously common, only like half a billion of them in India alone.

At any rate, she was so totally crushing on Harry and she was so never going to have him. She might as well just give up on her dreams now and try to mentally prepare herself for when Harry ended up marrying Hermione, or Susan, or Daphne.

Just as she was finishing up writing this into the diary, her head went all fuzzy and she blacked out.

Waking up in the morning however it didn't seem anything was out of the ordinary as she groggily got up.

She somehow still felt exhausted like she hadn't slept all night. She also couldn't even remember going to bed. Must have been really tired last night, she thought, but she definitely didn't feel like she had slept well.

She asked a couple of her dormmates how they had slept but they had apparently slept like babies and had no problems.

Strange, usually Lisa at least ended up waking up several times during the night, having to go to the bathroom or fluff her pillow or get a drink of water...it was actually rather annoying sometimes when her antics ended up waking her up.

As Padma got dressed and ready and then finally put her shoes on, she noticed that they were wet.

Again strange as she couldn't remember getting them wet yesterday. However after using a drying spell they were totally fine and she put them on and was intending to go down to breakfast but on the way she spotted a huge crowd of students looking at something on one of the walls.

Pressing into the crowd to find out what it was, there in big red letters was a sign that read:

"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Let the enemies of the Heir beware."

With shock she realized that the red lettering was actually blood.

"That's not the worst of it," Susan said with dismay as soon as Padma found the study group standing nearby and went over to them, "Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat was actually hanging there when we found her, but Filch took her down and then threatened to kill whoever did it."

"Do they know who did it?" Padma asked.

Hermione shook her head and admitted, "no me and Harry were the ones who actually found her and the writing like this. The Professors have tried to remove the writing but they can't for some reason."

"You said you heard someone though Harry?" Daphne asked him curiously.

Harry however just shook his head and admitted, "I don't know what I heard. It was in a strange language, I could somehow still understand what was being said but...I just don't know."

"I didn't really hear anything," Hermione confessed.

"Maybe Harry just has better ears than you," Susan suggested, which was certainly possible.

Padma however just had to shake herself, this whole morning was making her feel very strange.

At any rate, Susan suggested that they then try and hurry and get some breakfast at least.

…

**Harry**

The whole Mrs. Norris incident certainly caused quite a bit of conversation and speculation but it eventually died down especially since much to many a student's disappointment, Mrs. Norris turned out to only be petrified and not actually dead.

Yet Lockhart seemed to still think it was a good reason to teach the students how to defend themselves...or more likely it was a reason for him to try to show off. Whatever the reason Lockhart decided to have a school wide Dueling Club.

"I am so going to beat you up!" Daphne teased him when she found out the news.

"Not a chance!" He insisted, also eager for this match up with Daphne.

"I thought you didn't hit girls though Harry?" Daphne teased him more.

"With you I'm willing to make an exception," Harry told her, "don't worry, I'll hold back so I don't beat you too badly."

"Oh no you don't, you're going to need all you've got if you're even going to have a chance of beating me," Daphne insisted.

Hermione then turned to Susan and suggested, "I'll take you on as a partner for it if you want?"

"You're on," Susan immediately agreed, a determined look on her face.

Susan was usually pretty nice and gentle, but in the few times that she got angry...watch out or she could tear you apart.

With 4 of them matched up, that left just Padma left out which Harry noticed.

"I'll take you on after I finish with Daphne," Harry told her, causing Padma to absentmindedly nod.

Padma seemed a lot more tired than normal lately he'd noticed and she was a lot less focused, she'd even forgotten to do the Charms homework for Professor Flitwick yesterday. Fortunately since this was a first offense and she was usually so on top of it, Professor Flitwick had let it slide and given her extra time to finish it, much to Padma's relief.

"Are you alright?" He asked her worriedly.

Padma nodded and admitted, "I guess I just haven't been sleeping well lately."

"Maybe a sleeping draught might help?" Harry suggested, "I could brew one up for you if you'd like?"

Padma however shook her head and tried to insist, "no I'd hate to see you go through the trouble for me?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Harry asked, "you're my friend and I'm happy to help you if I can."

"We all are your friends and we're just worried about you," Susan agreed, deciding to go and give Padma a hug.

Padma let out a small smile and said, "thanks everyone, I'm fine though really."

Reluctantly he and the other girls decided to leave her alone...but he was still going to brew that sleeping draught for her.

….

At the dueling club Lockhart began by as usual bragging about himself causing him and Daphne to roll their eyes.

"You still think this guy is for real?" Harry asked Hermione.

Hermione however frowned and had to admit, "no, I think you're probably right, he is a fraud, I can see that now, but I still can't prove it."

"I guess he is still handsome," Susan confessed, "but so very arrogant and stupid too unfortunately...not a good combination."

"Not like Harry here," Daphne pointed out, "both handsome and smart."

"Why thanks Daphne," Harry praised her.

"I'm still going to wipe the floor with you though," Daphne teased.

Eventually after going through his little speech, Lockhart allowed them to break up into pairs to practice dueling.

Harry eagerly took up a position across from Daphne and began dueling.

Daphne was quick he soon learned as he only just barely dodged some of the spells she was using against him, but he was quicker as he soon hit her with a harmless red paint splatter spell that got all over her robes.

"Hey!" Daphne said, looking down at her robes in annoyance.

"It comes right out with a cleaning spell," Harry reassured her, "still before you do that I'd like to give you a nice Gryffindor gold paint to match so you're wearing Gryffindor colors."

"Not going to happen," Daphne argued, "I'm still a Slytherin whether you like it or not...and let me show you how a Slytherin fights."

"Serpensortia!" Daphne yelled.

Much to Harry's surprise, a snake erupted out of Daphne's wand and coiled onto the floor, looking angry and ready to strike.

Unfortunately the snake landed too close to a terrified looking Justin Finch-Fletchley who had been practicing dueling with his partner Ernie MacMillan next to them.

"Stop!" Harry commanded the snake without thinking in an effort to try and protect Justin, "don't attack him."

Much to his amazement however the snake immediately stopped and to his greater astonishment swiveled its snake head to look at him and ask, "you can understand me?"

"You can understand me?" Harry asked it back in amazement, causing the snake to nod.

He was reminded of the time that he had spoken to that boa constrictor in the zoo back before his 1st year and accidentally set it on his cousin Dudley.

At this point Harry noticed that it seemed the entire dueling club was now watching him and his conversation with the snake, most of them looking scared or with looks of disgust.

He looked over at his study group friends, all of which were looking at him with looks of surprise on their faces.

Daphne however decided to get rid of the snake as she destroyed it with another spell.

Immediately after however all 4 of his study group friends ushered him out of the room.

"You're a Parselmouth?" Susan asked him in surprise.

"I'm a what?" Harry asked, having not heard of this before in all the books that he had studied.

"You can speak to snakes?" Susan asked him.

"Well yes, I suppose I can, I mean I once talked to one at the zoo and again to that other snake just now that Daphne conjured, but I'm sure loads of people here can talk to snakes too."

"No they can't, hardly anyone can," Hermione admitted, "I don't know if you realize this, but this is bad. I've read about them and it seems all parselmouths have turned out to be evil wizards, Salazar Slytherin being the most notable. I don't think you're an evil wizard of course Harry but I'm sure other people might."

"With the heir of Slytherin thing going around, people are going to think you're the heir of Slytherin or something and you attacked Mrs. Norris," Susan pointed out, seeming worried for him, "it's a shame people jump to conclusions like that but...I know many of them will."

"I didn't do it though," Harry tried to insist.

"We know you didn't but I think a lot of people might think so," Hermione said with a long sigh.

"Can I just say I think it is actually really cool that you are a Parselmouth?" Daphne told him, trying to make him feel better, "it does cause me to wonder why you aren't a Slytherin but I for one think it is awesome that you have that ability."

"Thanks Daphne," Harry said, knowing that she was just trying to help, "but it looks like most people won't think so."

"We'll just have to convince people that you aren't some sort of evil wizard out to attack cats...which really wouldn't be so bad because I'm allergic," Daphne said sort of jokingly, "and if they don't agree with us then you can set a bunch of snakes on them."

"Which would be quite counter-productive," Susan warned, "but yes we should try to as soon as possible convince everyone otherwise that you are just the nice, wonderful boy that you are. First of all, you were in your dorm room with your roommates as witnesses while Mrs. Norris was being attacked, and then the common room with even more witnesses, and then the hallway with quite a few witnesses there, including Hermione here to back you up, you wouldn't have had time to try and attack Mrs. Norris or open any Chamber of Secrets."

At the very least he now felt relieved and satisfied that he didn't do it, as a lingering little thought had nagged at him that he somehow had.

Besides it wasn't his fault he could talk to snakes, he couldn't say where he had inherited it from, but since both his parents and grandparents were all dead, he couldn't exactly ask them, including if he really was somehow related to Salazar Slytherin.

"What do you think Padma?" Hermione asked her.

Up until now, Padma had been totally silent, but she now looked pale and totally afraid as she admitted, "I could actually understand what the snake was saying too like Harry which also makes me a Parselmouth...and what's worse, I think I'm the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets and attacked Mrs. Norris."


	7. Crushed

**Chapter 7**

**Crushed**

**Harry**

After talking with Padma extensively as she explained about the blackouts, her shoes being wet in the mornings, being really tired like she had barely slept at all, being a Parselmouth, their study group was now very concerned for her.

"Well at least you don't seem to be trying to do anything," Susan tried to reassure her.

"Still I just can't explain why this is all happening to me?" Padma admitted, "I didn't mean to do anything but it all just makes sense. Maybe I'm not doing it consciously, but that is still no excuse, especially now that I know something is clearly up."

"Well at least now we can get to the bottom of it and stop whatever it is is happening to you," Susan reminded her.

They all seemed to think for a moment before Hermione then suggested, "well it seems something or someone is controlling you somehow. Is there some sort of new jewelry you are wearing or some sort of perfume or something?"

Padma shook her head and said, "I don't even use any of that stuff anyway."

"We can check to see if she is Imperioused?" Daphne suggested as she then looked closely into Padma's eyes, "no that isn't it then, pretty eyes though."

Harry had to secretly agree with Daphne on that.

"What is the last thing you remember before these blackouts?" Harry asked.

"Writing in my diary," Padma admitted as her eyes widened as she asked, "you don't think that…"

"We'd better go and get that diary," Hermione immediately suggested.

Padma without another word rushed over to her dorm room to go and get it, returning with what appeared to be a plain, black diary.

Padma however held the diary mostly wrapped in a bag with two fingers as if worried it might corrupt her just by holding it.

"We'd better get this to Dumbledore," Harry told them all.

When they finally found the headmaster wandering the halls, Dumbledore took the diary and immediately began performing tests on it with his wand.

"Yes, there is definitely something… something very evil in this diary," Dumbledore said gravely and worriedly as he continued scanning, "oh no!"

Dumbledore nearly dropped the diary in surprise.

"What is it?" Hermione asked him.

Dumbledore however just shook his head and said, "it's probably best that you don't know. Thank you very much for bringing this to me though, this could have caused some serious damage if it had ended up in the wrong hands."

"I'm just wondering how it ended up with me," Padma said, "I thought my mum had gotten it for me but that clearly isn't the case, my mum would never give me something evil and cause me to become possessed like that."

"I'm not sure if we can find out who the culprit was," Hermione observed, "unless Padma you remember something else we don't really have a whole lot to go on."

"However it ended up in your possession I'm glad nobody got seriously hurt as this could have caused a lot of harm to a lot of people," Dumbledore said before adding, "well unless you want to count Mrs. Norris."

Padma however now looked really worried as she asked, "am I in trouble?"

Dumbledore however did not seem at all upset with her even though he did still look worried about the diary.

"No, not at all, you were clearly possessed by what was in this diary and had no control over your actions. Once you figured it out however you immediately brought it to my attention, I can't punish you for that," Dumbledore told her.

Padma looked relieved as did the rest of them that the crisis was so quickly averted.

….

**Padma**

Padma was still kicking herself for allowing herself to get possessed so easily however and despite Dumbledore reassuring her, she still felt like she had done something seriously wrong.

She'd tried to get away from everybody still quite ashamed and going to hide in an empty classroom, but then Harry came and found her standing there.

"Hey," He said simply, seeming unsure what to say, but he could tell that she needed somebody...and she really did.

Much to her surprise, Harry then did the only thing he could seem to think to do and gave her a hug. It felt so good to have him hugging her like this.

She relaxed into the hug, hugging him back tightly before tears began to flow freely onto Harry's shoulder as he continued to hold her.

"I'm so sorry Harry," Padma said between sobs.

"It's not your fault," He reassured her.

She kept protesting and he kept continuing to hold her and reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

She loved Harry she realized in that moment, she really did. She couldn't imagine him ever loving her as more than a friend but she did love him and more than just a friend too. Maybe it wasn't real love, she didn't know as she was still young, but it sure felt like love to her.

Rather than admit that to him however she merely just snuggled her head a little more into his shoulder and continued to hug him.

…..

Later on though, Padma managed to find Susan alone so she could talk to her.

"Are you still beating yourself up about the diary thing?" Susan asked worriedly when she saw her, "you know it really isn't your fault and-"

"No, it isn't about that," Padma insisted. Well maybe she was beating herself up a little still, but not as much as before. Harry had really helped her just being there for her along with having a good cry, even though she did now worry about what Harry must think of her acting like such an emotional mess. Still he hadn't seemed to mind or think of any less of her and without even saying anything, it felt like he understood what she was going through somehow and that made a huge difference for her.

Padma then let out a long sigh as she finally admitted to Susan at least, "I think I might be falling for Harry."

"Oh," Susan said simply in surprise, her eyes widening.

"I wouldn't say that it's that surprising, I'm not exactly subtle about it, I'm sure even Harry has noticed," Padma admitted.

"I'm just surprised that you are actually finally admitting it," Susan said, "not that you really needed to try and hide it or be ashamed about it, all 4 of us girls in the study group have crushes on Harry whether we'd like to admit it or not. Daphne hasn't really talked to me about it, but Hermione and I talk about Harry and our crushes on him sometimes."

"I think in my case it might be more than just a crush," Padma admitted, "I think I might...actually love him."

"I see," Susan said simply, seeming to be thinking this over.

"If you're worried I can't see myself actually acting on it," Padma added, "I mean I know I don't really have a great shot with actually ending up with him. I mean we're both still young and all of you girls are much prettier than me and-"

"Oh I definitely wouldn't say that," Susan argued, "you're very pretty and I can tell Harry likes you too."

"I just can't see myself ever having Harry feel about me the way that I feel about him," Padma argued, "the good news is I think I can still be happy for him when he inevitably chooses someone else that's good enough for him. Like you for example."

Susan didn't answer for a moment before then admitting, "well I can't deny that I have thought about ending up with Harry, you know dating him, getting married, having a bunch of kids together...mostly just daydream fantasy crush stuff but...my feelings for him have been growing too."

"Then you understand," Padma observed, "and what kind of problems might arise when all 4 of us end up falling even harder for him then we are now."

"I know," Susan agreed, seeming to understand her concerns, "I've thought about that too and other than agreeing to share him somehow I don't see how we can resolve it."

Padma thought about it for a long moment before then admitting, "I'd be willing to share him I think. It might be quite...unconventional and I'm sure people would talk but...I don't know what am I saying?"

She shook her head in confusion. That was just a ridiculous idea and would never work, they weren't just some polygamists or something.

"No, it's okay, I think I might be willing to share him with you too if it came down to it," Susan said before then also shaking her head as if also agreeing that was rather ridiculous and saying, "but hey, we're still young and are only 2nd years, we've got plenty of time and a lot can change growing up, it may be that most of us fall out of our crushes for Harry, or Harry finds some other girl, or we each find some other guy. We don't need to worry about any of that now."

"You're right," Padma agreed with a sigh of relief, "nothing to really worry about now. Still I would like to... you know talk about him sometimes with you and Hermione and even Daphne if she wants."

Susan grinned and said, "of course, what are girls supposed to talk about with each other other than cute boys?"

Padma couldn't help but smile back at that as she prepared to discuss in great detail what she thought of Harry's gorgeous emerald green eyes and messy black hair.

…

**Dumbledore**

Dumbledore sat in his office, contemplating what to do with the diary that Harry and his friends had given him.

The issue wasn't what to do with the diary itself as it was now just a smouldering pile of burnt paper as he'd already destroyed it with Fiendfyre, which was ordinarily quite difficult to control for most wizards, but was no problem for him.

No the diary itself would no longer pose any threat or danger and it was quite lucky it was brought to him before it could do irreparable harm.

The real problem now for the diary was what it represented: it contained irrefutable proof that Tom Riddle had indeed created a horcrux.

Dumbledore had long feared and suspected that Tom Riddle had created a horcrux as a means to protect himself against death and this was proof. However if his further suspicions were correct, then this wasn't the only one he had created either and that was a much bigger problem. When Voldemort returned and he would indeed inevitably return despite his best efforts to thwart him, he would likely still have at least one other horcrux to rely on before he could actually be killed.

Exactly how many horcruxes he couldn't be sure, but from the clearly altered memory he'd gotten from Slughorn years ago talking to Tom Riddle, it seemed he might know...he just had to figure out a way to convince him of giving him the unaltered version of the memory.

For a brief moment, he considered telling young Harry about the horcrux and his suspicions that there may be more as it was Harry's destiny to stop Voldemort but he rejected the idea, Harry was still just a boy and he shouldn't have to shoulder such a responsibility, at least not yet.

Harry should instead have the opportunity to just be kid and have fun with his friends for now.

Besides given what he'd learned about Harry's poor upbringing from the Dursleys over the summer, which he still felt very guilty for his role in it despite not knowing just how bad things had gotten there, he still wanted to make it up to him and protect him from any further harm and allow him to have the safe, wonderful life that he deserved and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that happened.

The two Bones women Amelia and Karen had both been granted temporary custody of Harry through his efforts but both of them were already talking about making it a potential formal adoption should Harry wish it.

If Harry wanted that, then he was more than happy to grant such a request and do what he needed with the legal system to ensure it, it seemed living with the Bones had finally given Harry a good and proper home life with a family that loved him and that certainly pleased Dumbledore to see it.

Second of all to help Harry, he was also going to try and make it up to Harry by keeping him out of this whole Voldemort mess for as long as he could. He should be able to deal with the horcrux problem himself and he had a vast amount of resources to rely on, resources Harry simply didn't have, to work with.

Before he could begin his search for anymore horcruxes however, he'd need to convince Slughorn to give him that memory and that would take some doing as he tried to figure out how best to proceed with that.

After a moment however he decided there was an even more pressing issue to deal with first: the Chamber of Secrets. According to the message that a horcrux possessed Padma had written was that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened.

He'd already looked quite a bit along with the other teachers for the no doubt highly secret entrance with no luck, which wasn't too surprising given that it hadn't been discovered in the over 1,000 years that Hogwarts had been around and since Salazar Slytherin had left the school.

Whatever monster was down there, despite getting rid of the diary could very well still escape and attack more students and he could never allow that to happen.

So he was dealing with a monster that somehow could survive for over 1,000 years without much food to live off of, could somehow petrify a cat, and something that Salazar Slytherin could control.

The realization of what it was concerned him greatly. All this time he had had a basilisk right underneath the school?

Yet it was the only thing that made sense especially given that Salazar Slytherin was a parselmouth.

Well he definitely couldn't in good conscious leave it wherever it was now that he knew or at least strongly suspected that a basilisk was under the school, potentially capable of killing scores of students with but a single glare from its deadly eyes.

He'd have to find the secret entrance...and it just so happened that he still had an eyewitness of the monster still around, of a sort, that he could talk to. He'd be having a talk with Moaning Myrtle.

He found her inside of the girls' bathroom that she always haunted, he'd tried to convince her that there were better places to be than that in the past, but Myrtle was quite a weird ghost, even by ghost standards and insisted she liked being there.

Myrtle was quite surprised to have the headmaster talking to her but was quite happy, weirdly very happy in fact, to relate the story of her death to him.

In truth, if he had himself questioned her 50 years ago the first time the Chamber of Secrets was opened perhaps they could have averted the crisis then, but at the time he'd been merely a teacher and it was his predecessor as Headmaster, Armando Dippet that had questioned Myrtle's ghost and after merely assuming that it was in fact Hagrid's pet acromantula that had killed her and expelled Hagrid, Dippet had just assumed the matter was resolved, which clearly it was not.

A thought occurred to him, perhaps the entrance to Chamber of Secrets was in here, the place where Moaning Myrtle had died? It was certainly possible.

He looked around for over 2 hours having used every spell he could think of to reveal the location and failing that, having looked in all sorts of random places with his old and tired body now very achy and sore from the exertion.

Yet in the end he finally found what looked like it could be it, a small carved picture of a snake on a pipe underneath one of the sinks.

He'd need to be able to speak parseltongue to open it he realized, something he himself was not nor did he want to involve Harry or possibly Padma if he didn't absolutely have to.

It took some time for him to remember the long forgotten spell, one he'd only read about decades ago in an old and long forgotten book, but finally he was able to use it to mimic the word "Open" in parseltongue.

Immediately all of the sinks pulled away to reveal a giant hole that went down so far he couldn't see the bottom.

Dumbledore had to chuckle a little at the symbolism of it all. Surely not?

Salazar Slytherin certainly had a dirty mind and this had to be intentional. Having a giant snake slide up and down a giant, slimy wet hole hidden inside the girl's bathroom.

At any rate, having now found the secret chamber where the basilisk likely was...he was going to need a rooster. Might as well make it easy for himself to kill the basilisk, he thought.

However what to do with the dead basilisk afterwards however as it's body would no doubt be quite valuable, especially for being so old and grown to a no doubt enormous size...it suddenly occurred to him that resolving his basilisk problem might just resolve his Slughorn problem as well. What Potions master could resist so much rare and valuable basilisk parts for Potions making?

In fact, not only that but the rest of the basilisk he didn't give to Slughorn would indeed be quite valuable...and it was only right that the school itself profit off of it. He could think of plenty of things that the school use that money for that the budget, unfortunately controlled by Lucius Malfoy who was notoriously stingy as the head of the Board of Governors, hadn't allowed for.

He couldn't help but chuckle that a basilisk just might be the best thing that ever happened to Hogwarts. Well not really because poor Myrtle had died because of it, but still.

He was already planning what school supplies he could buy and what renovations he could make.


	8. Polyjuice Potion

**Chapter 8**

**Polyjuice Potion**

**Harry**

As the rest of their 2nd year went on and the study group continued to do very well, even in their advanced classes, Professor Slughorn decided to really test them with a new potion, the Polyjuice Potion. It was considered to be extremely difficult even by a Potion maker's standards and Professor Slughorn explained that he wouldn't even consider having regular 2nd years try to make it, but he felt that they at least might be able to.

It would take about a month to brew which they had to devote time to each Potions class to work on it, but even so as they worked on it, each of them couldn't help but wonder how it would turn out and if they would end up testing it out.

"So who are we turning ourselves into anyway?" Hermione asked everyone.

"I'll go with Harry," Daphne said immediately with a sly grin.

Mixed feelings hit him as he tried to decide what to make of this before asking, "You just want to see yourself as me naked don't you?"

"That's the plan," Daphne said unabashedly.

Hermione sighed and said, "no Daphne you can't be Harry."

"Why not?" Daphne complained, "what if I let him turn into me then to make it fair?" I'm sure he could find at least a couple things he might enjoy."

Daphne put her hands on her growing chest.

"I'm sure he would," Susan said smiling slyly at him.

Yes, he very much would, he thought to himself.

Hermione however slapped him lightly on the arm and said, "No Harry don't even think about it. You can try another boy then, not one of us or any other girl for that matter."

"You could get some of Malfoy's hair to try him out then," Daphne suggested.

Harry pulled a face at the idea. He'd never want to look like Malfoy ever.

"I bet Professor Slughorn would let you try out looking like him?" Padma suggested jokingly.

Slughorn was busy singing to himself at his desk at the moment, seeming to be in a particuarly good mood for some reason, something about a snake.

At Padma's joke about Slughorn Daphne raised her hand for a high five to congratulate her on a good one, which Padma couldn't resist smiling and then returning the high five with a loud slap as their hands came together.

Yeah, no definitely not Slughorn.

"I think I'll just sit out trying the Polyjuice Potion," Harry concluded.

There was really nobody else, at least not male, that he would want to look like even for an hour.

"I'd be willing to try out you though Susan," Padma suggested, "if the idea isn't too gross or something."

"No, I don't mind," Susan said, "I'd be willing to try you out then, always wondered what having darker skin would be like mostly if I could actually tan instead of just always getting sunburned."

"I'd like to try your body out then Hermione," Daphne told her, "honestly I think it would be rather interesting to see first hand just how you are treated as a Muggleborn. I mean I've seen some of it simply being around you but it would be interesting to walk down the halls as you and see how everybody reacts."

Hermione nodded, seeming to appreciate the suggestion as she said, "if you want to feel free, I will warn you that you may not like it, but if you still want to, then I might as well try you out and see if I'm treated any differently as a Slytherin and a pureblood."

"An experiment, nice!" Susan agreed enthusiastically, "I wonder if I'll be treated any differently as Padma then."

"Maybe I should try out the Polyjuice Potion then," Harry concluded, now thinking about changing his mind about trying it out, "it would be nice to not have to be...well me for a change, no more celebrity worship, or any of that."

In truth that would be rather nice if only for an hour, though to be fair his real friends, who were all right here anyway definitely didn't treat him like that so he supposed it didn't really matter all that much.

He did however also think of the whole Heir of Slytherin thing, which he couldn't actually be sure he wasn't. At any rate it seemed that despite plenty of initial gossip, him being a Parselmouth seemed to have died down somewhat in gossip, especially since Dumbledore announced without going into any details to the school, that the culprit had been found in who attacked Mrs. Norris and been dealt with and they had no need to fear of any further attacks.

Fortunately it hadn't gotten out about Padma's role in it and he knew the only ones that did know, meaning their study group and Dumbledore would never say anything. They had all agreed to make sure to keep it that way.

The only thing was they still couldn't be sure just who had given Padma the diary in the first place and how, but he supposed they may never know.

"If you want to escape from being yourself we could just transfigure you into an animal or something," Susan suggested.

"Like a snake?" Daphne offered, "you can already talk to snakes, being one shouldn't be too different."

"I wouldn't remember who or what I was as a snake though," Harry reminded her.

"I wonder if I could still understand you as a snake?" Padma wondered, "I mean I'm not sure if I'm still a Parselmouth, not that I will likely find much use for it either way."

It was rather curious but he had to agree with her that wouldn't be much use to her even if she still could.

"Speaking of turning into animals, I have been wanting to try and become an Animagus," Hermione admitted, "I looked it up and it would be apparently really difficult but I think it would be worth it and really cool."

"Yeah, that would be really awesome," Susan agreed enthusiastically.

"We could try asking Professor McGonagall, she's an Animagus," Padma suggested.

"I don't think she would go for it when we are still too young," Harry concluded, "we might as well try asking though, worst thing she can do is say no or have us wait until we're older."

….

The whole Animagus idea was soon nixed by Professor McGonagall who thought it was much too difficult even for them and so instead they got to work on the rest of their schoolwork and many other side projects they tended to always have.

The Polyjuice Potion for example finally was ready and after Professor Slughorn signed off on it, congratulating them all for a perfectly made Potion, the girls all tried it out by putting a couple hairs that they had collected from their hair brushes into each others' individual potions.

Harry however opted to just stand back and watch them having decided not to try it.

As each of the girls downed their potions, he didn't have to wait long before they all started to change as he watched them.

Susan's hair began to turn black and get even longer, and then her skin began to turn brown, and her chest get much smaller but grow slightly taller.

Padma on the other hand's skin turned white and her hair turn red and her chest began to grow and grow.

"Oof, I definitely should have taken off my bra first, it's way too tight now," Padma observed as she put a hand underneath her robes to try and take her bra off.

She managed it which made her look much less constricted but she nearly then fell over from the extra unused to weight on her chest.

"Whoa I've got actual boobs now," Padma observed as she hefted up her now large chest.

Susan just merely smiled at that as she ran her hands through her now longer, shiny black hair.

"Your hair is gorgeous Padma," Susan complimented her, causing Padma to blush and say thanks.

Hermione was however busy studying herself in a mirror as she stood looking exactly like Daphne now.

Daphne however was busy running her hands along Hermione's big firm bum when she saw Hermione give her a look of disapproval.

"What I can't have a little fun?" Daphne asked her, not at all embarrassed or ashamed of what she was doing, "you've got an incredible bum by the way Hermione."

"Uh, thanks," Hermione said awkwardly.

Daphne then took a turn looking into the mirror, still looking herself over in Hermione's body and commented, "ooh, I look sexy."

Hermione couldn't resist blushing but couldn't seem to think of what to say to that.

Each of the girls all then decided to go out and about and see what it was like being each other while he stayed awkwardly back.

It might have been nice to try out the Polyjuice Potion but there was no guy that he felt comfortable enough or wanted to ask to try out his body.

The girls of course weren't okay with him trying out any of their bodies, which he completely understood, but even the idea of it still gave him some very naughty thoughts that he tried not to think about too much.

Still it was getting harder and harder not to think about any of them, he swore each of them only got more attractive everyday and being around them so much, even as his very good friends was rather hard on him.

He could tell each of them liked him back but the problem was if he were to say ask one of them out on a date or something then what would happen if the date didn't go well? Could they survive as friends? Even if things did go well and he continued to date one of them and even married one of them, how would the other girls that he didn't choose feel? Could his friendship with them survive?

He definitely didn't want to risk losing any of them as friends, they simply all meant too much to him. Besides how was he supposed to choose between any of them anyway? They were all such wonderful and beautiful girls that any guy would be lucky to have, especially himself.

So for now he'd try to just keep his feelings in check and try to figure it all out. He was still young and had plenty of time for that.

When the girls came back from their exploits going around as each other it had apparently been rather enlightening for each of them.

Daphne for example shook her head now back looking like herself and admitted to Hermione, "I'm so sorry that you have to go through that, are you treated like that everyday just because you're a Muggleborn? I mean I know I saw some of it just being around you, but that...people can be just so mean and for what? Just because of blood status?"

Hermione gave a grim smile as she admitted, "yeah, it can be pretty rough, but at least I have all of you who see me for who I really am. Still you have it bad too, I tried going to the Slytherin dorms to see how they treat me and they treat me like a blood traitor which seems just as bad to them. At least I don't have to share a house with all the people that treat me bad. Parvati and Lavender may not be the easiest to get along with but they are super nice in comparison to some of the Slytherins"

Daphne also gave a grim smile as she admitted, "yeah, I usually just ignore them and they ignore me most of the time which I guess works."

"Well if you do have issues with them, we can back you up if necessary," Padma told her.

"That's actually the reason why they haven't tried anything with me since I do have all of you," Daphne admitted, "we're obviously very good and powerful students and could hold our own in a fight, showing off our skills in that dueling club seems to have helped too."

Susan sighed as she said, "why can't we all just see past each other's differences and just get along? I got a little bit of prejudice as Padma which was sad, but it seems both you Hermione and Daphne had and still have it much worse."

"Wizarding Blood Status seems to be the most important thing to wizards and witches," Padma concluded, "but yes I do get a bit of prejudice just because of my skin color and ethnicity too."

"Well I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't like you girls," Harry told them, "what's not to like?"

Each of the girls smiled at that.

"We like you too Harry," Susan said, causing her to blush as she realized what she had said.

….

A few days later as they each were doing some individual study, Daphne suddenly exclaimed, "I did it!"

"What did you find?" Hermione asked curiously, "the answer to the question I had on Cheering Charms on-"

"No, not that," Daphne said, "I found proof that Lockhart is a fraud."

"How did you find proof of that?" Padma asked.

"Elementary my dear Padma," Daphne said in her best Sherlock impression.

"You did read it!" Hermione said happily, "I told you you would like it."

"Well yes I was kind of reluctant to read a Muggle book," Daphne said, "but it turns out Muggles actually have some good books too. Sherlock Holmes was great and so was The Hobbit even though a much too traditional depiction of wizards unless you count Dumbledore was in it. Anyway let me show you what I found."

Daphne showed them some things that proved when it came to the Banshee that Lockhart supposedly defeated, he couldn't have been there as he had instead been on the other side of the world at the time for a photo op.

She had even gotten pictures from the photo op with a date and time stamp on them.

"Good work," Harry praised Daphne, "so the question is what do we do with this information?"

"I was thinking we could maybe blackmail him," Daphne suggested.

"Daphne!" Susan scolded.

Hermione also looked rather cross as she folded her arms in annoyance, not liking the idea of blackmail, even if it was Lockhart.

"It was just an idea," Daphne defended.

"We could present him with the information and use it as a way to get him to turn himself in before we do?" Padma suggested.

"At least give him a chance to atone for what he did perhaps and tell everyone himself what he did before we have to," Susan agreed, liking Padma's idea.

"More likely he would try to attack or at least threaten us," Harry pointed out, not wanting to risk any of the girls getting hurt, although he would be willing to confront Lockhart himself if that is what they all agreed on doing.

"Why don't we just give Dumbledore this information and let him make the call?" Hermione suggested.

This seemed to be the most obvious choice and was ultimately the one that they all decided on.

Dumbledore seemed surprised that they had managed to dig up such information themselves, but not at all surprised to learn that Lockhart was a fraud. The only reason in fact that he had hired him in the first place was because no one else had applied and Lockhart would at least be better than nothing. Evidently there were some fears that the Defense Against the Dark Arts job was cursed somehow.

At any rate, whatever did happen with Lockhart, the very next day Lockhart was gone and Dumbledore opted to teach the remainder of the school year in his place, which made for for the first time some very educational and rewarding learning.

**Bellatrix Lestrange**

Bellatrix was currently rotting in Azkaban prison, plotting on which would be the best way to torture and then kill a Muggle as she often did to pass the time when she got an unexpected visitor.

"Hello Bellatrix," Lucius Malfoy said looking down at her with an arrogant expression as if she was beneath him for how far she had fallen as she lay on the floor of her cell, dressed in rags.

She wanted to smash his head against the bars of her cell just to show him who was boss, she was in prison and he had managed to save himself from a conviction, but she was the one who was her Master's greatest servant, not him. She would only be like this until her master returned to rescue her and returned her to her former glory.

"What do you want Lucius?" Bellatrix said as she went and stood up and straightened herself up. She tried to speak to him with some degree of respect that he still deserved, despite him looking down at her for being in prison, he was still her brother-in-law, and had at one point been highly favored of her master.

Lucius looked around to make sure that there was no else around, which there wasn't other than a few mindless prisoners in cells nearby nor was there even one of those blasted dementors that had learned to stay clear of her...while the dementors had somehow managed to become guards of the prison they were still secretly servants of the Dark Lord waiting for his return as was she, and they seemed to now know just what she meant to her master. They almost never bothered her at least.

"I came to ask you for some information," Lucius declared, "the Ministry has stepped up their game, all under the orders of Amelia Bones no doubt and they have been raiding homes of former Death Eaters, I wanted to make sure that I got out what was in your home if you still have anything there you want me to protect."

Bellatrix scoffed and said in her voice, which had become strained with not having used it much over the years other than laughing hysterically as she imagined torturing her enemies, "if the Ministry hasn't found anything by now, I highly doubt they ever will."

Besides she didn't care even if they did they were useless to her in prison, the one thing that truly mattered, her Master's Hufflepuff cup was sitting safely inside her vault in Gringotts.

"I wouldn't be so sure, Amelia Bones has been causing lots of problems and she's already found quite a few former Death Eater's stashes," Lucius informed her, "I even narrowly avoided it as they found my own secret place where I normally keep my Dark Items. Fortunately I was tipped off in the nick of time by one of the aurors I have in my pocket. Still I had to sell most of that stuff at a loss and simply try and dispose of what was left that I couldn't sell."

Bellatrix' eyes widened as she demanded frantically, "what of the diary? Our master's diary?"

Lucius seemed surprised as he asked her, "what of it? It was our master's sure, but he is dead and long gone and that diary was just some old, worn muggle diary that had no value. Borgin and Burkes wouldn't even give me so much as a knut for it. I finally just shoved it deep inside some girl's bookbag while I was out shopping and got rid of it that way. Maybe it was actually dark and maybe it could hurt her if we are lucky but-"

"YOU LOST OUR MASTER'S DIARY!" Bellatrix roared with rage, of all the insolent, stupid things that had ever been done in the history of the world, this had to be the worst. Lucius had merely just given away that which he had been given such sacred trust over, her master's…

"What is the big deal?" Lucius asked, "not like the dark lord is ever going to return to get it himself."

"HE WILL RETURN!" Bellatrix insisted, "he will return and together we will take over the world! All Muggles shall be enslaved or killed, our glory shall be everlasting and eternal!"

Lucius seemed annoyed, looking at her like she was crazy and she realized his complacency over the years with not so much as a word that the Dark Lord would return, instead enjoying the cushy, rich, and lavish lifestyle that he had forgotten what it meant to be a servant to the Dark Lord. He should have suffered in the name of her master as she had, she thought.

He had no idea just what that diary really was and why it was so special or why Hufflepuff's cup was so special either but she did, she was the only one that her master had entrusted with his second greatest secret and why she knew he would return one day.

However the loss of the diary concerned her, while it was only one horcrux and she knew her master had others safely hidden away, she couldn't let that diary be discovered for what it was and be destroyed. If she got to it though...it may be the key to leading her to finding her master.

A pang hit her blackened heart as she realized her master might need her, might need her to bring him back to power as all his other death eaters had failed him and turned their backs on him, if even Lucius had given up then...it was up to her.

She was going to have to escape.

She then started yelling at Lucius, her fury at him losing the diary too much for her to bear until Lucius finally backed away and out of her cell, now looking at her with concern, convinced that she really was crazy and unreasonable.

Well so what if she was?

She raged at Lucius long after he had left.

Finally after she calmed down a bit in a cell nearby her blood traitor cousin Sirius Black smiled at her with a big, toothy, disgusting grin as he asked her, "you lose something important?"

She raged and yelled at him then, turning her anger upon him, which only caused him to smile even wider.

It bothered her to no end just how much she had craved killing Sirius...within earshot but unable to actually kill him from her cell. She had long since tired of his antics.

Ooh once she got out of this cell and before she tried to escape the actual prison...she was so going to make him pay and wipe that smile off of his face...she was going to make all enemies of her master pay.

First it would be Sirius, then she would have her revenge on the woman responsible for catching her and putting her in this prison: Amelia Bones.

Yet her ultimate goal would be to bring back her Master, oh how she missed him, his power, his cruelty, his touch…she would find him and be reunited with him...and the easiest way to find him was getting back that diary.

If the fool Lucius' actions had indeed resulted in it being found out and destroyed, her wrath as well as that of her master's would be immeasurable and he would pay dearly for his foolishness, but if it hadn't been discovered yet, she had to get to it.

Before she did that however, she would have to find her master's truly greatest secret...it was time.


	9. Free At Last

**Chapter 9**

**Free At Last**

**Bellatrix**

Things had not quite gone to plan, she had managed to subdue and get the keys from one of the human guards as he passed her cell a little too closely, but he had had enough fight in him that he'd cried out and yelled for help putting the entire prison on alert and forced her to immediately make her escape and reluctantly to put on hold her plans to kill her cousin Sirius. Let him continue to rot then forever, why should she put him out of his misery anyway she figured?

She had also been forced to subdue 2 other guards as she made her escape using the wand that she took off of the first guard.

She would have loved to torture and then kill all of them but she simply didn't have the time nor did she have the energy, she was going to need all the energy that she had in order to make her escape.

As for the dementors however, she passed about a dozen of them, but they simply let her pass, respecting her connection to her master.

She didn't take the front door, that way would be blocked by no doubt a dozen guards and countless magical wards and spells by now, enough that even she couldn't hope to get past them.

No, she instead made her way up onto the roof where there was much less resistance since nobody actually would have thought this way was possible. They clearly had no idea who they were dealing with.

Upon getting onto the roof and seeing daylight for the first time in over a decade she wanted to bask in it for a moment, but knew she had better get out of here as fast as possible.

All she had to do now was-

"Going somewhere?" A voice asked behind her.

She whirled around in surprise as she exclaimed, "Sirius!"

Sirius was grinning widely at her, clearly pleased to have caught up to her. How had he managed to escape his cell without the keys she wondered?

"You can't stop me Sirius," Bellatrix claimed defiantly before then grinning and saying, "but how nice of you to provide me with the chance to kill you."

She tried casting a reducto curse at him, deciding to enjoy the satisfaction of blowing his head off, but instead he deflected it with a wand he must have gotten off of one of the other guards.

"You're going to have to do better than that Bellatrix," Sirius declared boldly.

"You can't hope to best me Sirius, I was always the better duelist," Bellatrix claimed.

"I don't have to beat you, only delay you until the guards get here," Sirius pointed out.

She let out a howl of rage as she knew he was right as she tried then quickly taking him out, yet both of them were clearly in terrible condition after their years of incarceration and were having difficulty besting the other. She was also forced to switch to weaker spells as her energy quickly depleted.

Finally however she succeeded in disarming him of his wand as she got the satisfaction of seeing it fall out of his hands.

Sirius however was still grinning as she noticed with a start that he had managed to disarm her of her own wand at the same time.

"What is it going to be now Bellatrix?" Sirius asked triumphantly.

She let out another howl of rage, she wanted to then strangle him with her bare hands but that would simply take too long, she would definitely be apprehended if she stayed to do so.

"I'll just have to come back to kill you," Bellatrix declared.

"Not if I stop you first," Sirius argued.

At that Bellatrix couldn't help but feel puzzled, why would Sirius risk his own possible escape just to see she failed in her own escape attempt?

He just had to be insufferably noble like he always had been and not just simply look out for himself.

"How are you going to stop me?" Bellatrix asked, "it is my destiny that I bring back my master to his former glory."

Nothing was going to stop her in that goal, especially not her insufferable blood traitor cousin.

She then however chose to ignore him and focus on jumping off of the prison roof, it was a long way down she noted as she peered at the water below. If she didn't land it just right she could easily kill herself from the sharp rocks that surrounded most of the prison base.

At seeing Sirius run at her however to stop her that gave her the resolve that she needed as she jumped as far as she could before he could get to her.

She landed in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, even in early summer which is what it was by her reckoning it could be very cold. The good news was she had managed to avoid the rocks, having chosen to jump from the correct side of the prison, anywhere else and she surely would have died on impact.

She heard a splash land somewhere nearby as she fought to rise to the surface, Sirius had clearly jumped in after her, but upon arising to the surface she couldn't find him anywhere.

Maybe he had landed on the rocks and drowned she thought gleefully.

A couple of dementors swooped down over her, but instead of alerting anyone, decided to pretend they hadn't seen her and moved on. Everything was going according to plan.

She then focused on trying to swim for her life towards the direction of what her instincts told her was land.

….

**Harry**

Time had flown by and their 2nd year quickly came to a close with each of them still earning top marks in their classes.

When summer came, he again spent it over at Susan's house visited often by his other friends.

In the beginning of summer however when he was over at Susan's house, a really big piece of news that would ultimately change all of their lives hit them.

"Bellatrix Lestrange and Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban," Amelia Bones, Susan's Aunt admitted to him and Susan one morning, "the paper will also share the news but I wanted to be the one to tell you both before you found out that way. We aren't sure exactly how they escaped yet, only we are assuming they are working together and we're still investigating any further details. We're also doing everything we can to try and track them both down."

Both Harry and Susan sat there, unsure what to say. He wasn't too familiar with Bellatrix Lestrange himself, just that she was a very evil witch who was one of Voldemort's closest supporters. Sirius Black however he had heard more of, very unfortunately so, Amelia had told him last summer about him being the one that had betrayed his parents to Voldemort.

As far as he was concerned, Black was just as bad as Voldemort.

He clenched his teeth, wanting to be the one to take down Black himself for what he had done to his parents.

Susan however looked more afraid of Bellatrix and what she might do to her Aunt as she asked, "she's going to come after you isn't she?"

Harry remembered that Susan had mentioned once that it was her Aunt Amelia, back when she was an Auror who had managed to capture Bellatrix Lestrange in the first place and sent her to serving a lifetime sentence to Azkaban.

The capture of her along with several other high ranking Death Eaters at the time had actually vaulted her career to soon becoming Head of Magical Law Enforcement. Amelia however sometimes complained that she wished she was still an auror and didn't have to worry so much about politics and bureaucracy.

"I believe she might," Amelia confirmed gravely, "the Ministry will of course be setting me with a security detail when I'm at home or out and about but Bellatrix is crazy enough that she might try seeking revenge anyway no matter what. What worries me more is that she might try to come after you Susan in order to get to me or of course you Harry, she seems to have been one of if not the highest ranking Death Eater supporter of Voldemort despite being a woman. There have even been rumors that she and Voldemort were lovers despite her being married to another man. I'm sure she would love to get her hands on either of you. Then of course there is Black, who will no doubt be helping her and he may try to come after you Harry."

"What do you want us to do?" Harry asked her.

He was meaning maybe if he could help her capture them even though he knew Amelia would never allow him to put himself into danger like that.

"Try to just stay safe," Amelia told him, "I know you may want to do something but leave it up to the adults for that. It is more important you just focus on helping us do our jobs and protect you. I know you kids will be getting a chance to go on Hogsmeade trips this upcoming year so if you do that then be sure to always stay around lots of other people. Bellatrix may be crazy but she isn't stupid enough to try to attack you in broad daylight surrounded by lots of other people...at least I don't think she would but even so you would have other people around to protect you. I will also have aurors stationed in major wizard locations to help protect the general populace and patrol Hogsmeade, the Ministry, Diagon Alley, and Hogwarts so you may see them around."

"We'll do our best to stay safe," Susan promised.

Amelia nodded, looking at least a little more relieved, but still clearly concerned for them.

Harry did think it was interesting though that Amelia looked more concerned for them than she was for herself.

"There is however another matter I would like to discuss with you alone if that is alright Harry?" Amelia then asked him.

He looked at Susan who was smiling very widely, clearly very happy about something all of a sudden despite the recent news about Black and Lestrange as she clearly knew what this was about even though he had no idea himself.

Susan then got up, giving him one last smile and said, "I'll just leave then Aunty."

Once she had, Amelia then looked at him and asked him, "are you happy living here Harry?"

"Yes, very much," Harry agreed immediately.

He loved staying over at the Bones house for the Summer and Christmas holidays.

"We've loved having you here as well," Amelia replied.

"It actually feels like this home now," Harry admitted.

Amelia looked quite pleased at that response as she continued with:

"I'm glad to hear you say that Harry because as you know me and Karen have been granted custody of you, but we've been talking about it together and also talked to Susan about this too to see how she feels and we were wondering if you would like to officially become part of our family."

Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise as he asked, "part of the family?"

"Yes, we would like to, only if you want, officially adopt you and make you part of our family," Amelia explained to him.

He thought it over, having not expected this turn of events, nor had time to process just what it could mean for him. Of course he wanted to be part of their family, in a way he already felt like he was in a way, such as he never had with the Dursleys. He very much wanted to accept but…

Amelia seemed to tell that he was struggling with something and guessed what it was as she explained, "of course we could never take the place of your parents but-"

"No, that isn't it," Harry admitted, "I can't even remember my parents and even if I could ask them somehow how they felt, I think they would approve of me becoming part of your family, I'm actually more worried about this: would that make Susan my sister then?"

Amelia looked like she wanted to laugh a little but resisted the urge as she however looked at him for a long moment before asking, "you really like her don't you?"

"Yes I do," Harry admitted to her, feeling a bit worried about her reaction, "I hope that is okay."

"Of course it is Harry," Amelia reassured him, "I'm obviously very protective of my niece but I also know she is a very attractive and nice girl and I'm not at all surprised that you have feelings for her. In truth I think it is actually rather cute that you feel that way about her."

Harry was relieved to hear her say that, but he also couldn't help but point out, "but if she ends up becoming my sister then…"

"Then you might not be able to have a romantic relationship with her in the future," Amelia concluded.

"Exactly," Harry said with a nod, "I mean I don't know if I will or not but Susan really is a great girl and I don't know if my feelings for her will go away even if she does become my sister and then it could get really awkward."

Amelia looked at him for a moment before reassuring him, "I'm very much aware that you clearly have feelings for Susan and that you also have feelings for your other friends too. I'll leave it up to you to figure all that out but I do want to tell you that even if we do adopt you, you can have a relationship with Susan later on if you want, it won't affect anything even if you decide to get married one day, the magical legal system would allow for that since you aren't blood related other than very distantly."

He was a bit relieved to hear that, but also worried that his feelings were so obvious that even Amelia had noticed them and not just with Susan, but with all of his friends.

"So you would be okay if maybe someday me and Susan might-?" Harry asked tentatively, not wanting to make Amelia angry as he couldn't manage to finish his sentence. She could be very scary during the few times he had seen her when she was angry.

Amelia inclined her head as she said, "I'm glad that you asked my permission, but yes you can date Susan if you want. Ordinarily I would be quite protective of my only niece that I consider to be like a daughter to me, but I've gotten to know you Harry and I trust you...just don't ever give me a reason not to trust you."

"I promise to always keep your trust and I would never do anything to hurt Susan," Harry promised her. He would rather himself get hurt than Susan.

She looked him in the eye to make sure that she did indeed mean business before nodding, seeming satisfied.

There was however one other issue that Harry had to ask before he accepted her offer of adoption.

"What about my last name?" Harry asked, "would I need to change it?"

"Not if you don't want to," Amelia said, "however I will warn you that if somehow you did decide you wanted to marry Susan one day, that part of the Bones Family Rules, you would need to change your official last name then as in our family the husband always takes his Bones wife's last name."

He thought about this, he supposed he wasn't against taking Bones as his last name, but he wasn't really willing to give up the name Potter either, one of the only things that he had left of his parents. He supposed however he didn't need to give up his last name now if he didn't want to and the only reason he would is if he somehow ended up marrying Susan, which seemed very far off and unlikely to happen even if he would consider himself very fortunate to get to marry Susan.

"Could I just take the name Harry James Potter Bones for now?" Harry asked.

"You can," Amelia agreed, seeming pleased with this compromise.

"Then...I would be proud and very happy to officially become part of the Bones Family," Harry told her.

Amelia smiled and couldn't resist giving him a hug for a moment as she said, "then welcome to the family Harry!"

He couldn't resist smiling too as he hugged her back. It felt really good to know he would soon be part of a real family, including with people that seemed to care about him so much.

"Now then," Amelia told him, "I dare say you've got one very eager red headed girl waiting for you to give her the good news."

At that, Harry rushed out of the room to find Susan nervously standing there waiting for him.

"Did you-?" Susan managed to ask.

He nodded, causing her to squeal in delight as she went to go give him a hug of her own.


	10. Capture

**Chapter 10**

**Capture**

**Harry**

A couple weeks later and Harry went with Amelia and Susan's mother Karen to go have the adoption fully approved at the Ministry.

He was a bit nervous, not because he was apprehensive of the Bones' women adopting him, but because it would mean going for the first time to the Ministry of Magic, and what's more meeting with the Minister of Magic himself.

Ordinarily an adoption would be approved by someone in Magical Child Protective Services and then a judge, but since Amelia was actually over both of those departments at the Ministry, she couldn't get legal approval from someone who she was technically the boss of.

As high up as she was, the only higher authority than that they could get approval was from the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge and that was who they were going to go see.

Once inside the Ministry, Harry noticed that there seemed to be plenty of security precautions that Amelia had put into place, including noticing several aurors on patrol around them, who greeted Amelia politely as they passed by her.

As they walked however, Harry was constantly distracted by the many interesting things at the Ministry such as memos being flown by magical flying paper airplane every which way to various departments.

All manner of beings walked past them too. Wizards, witches, and various magical creatures such as goblins, house elves, and even a security troll that lumbered past them with a huge club.

"Come along Harry," Susan's mother Karen called for him as he had stopped to look at the fountain with statues of magical beings in the center.

"Sorry," He apologized at getting distracted as he rushed back over to them.

As they still walked, they were stopped by several witches and wizards that recognized him and tried to talk to the boy-who-lived. Amelia however shooed them away to which he was grateful.

"Do you have to deal with that everywhere you go?" Karen asked.

"Yeah pretty much," He admitted.

"Poor boy," She commented with some sympathy, "I was worried that Susan would get similar treatment when most of our family was wiped out by Death Eaters."

"Being famous for losing your family isn't exactly fun," Harry agreed.

"At least you didn't let the fame get to you," She praised him, "you seem like such a nice boy and I'm glad that Susan met you."

"I'm glad to have met her too," He told her, "you've raised a wonderful daughter."

"She really is and I think she will be the best Bones yet," Amelia agreed.

"Thank you again for doing this for me," Harry thanked them once again.

"No problem Harry, happy to do it," Karen told him with a wide smile, "I'm glad to have you become part of the family. I'm sorry Susan couldn't be a part of this, she wanted to come, but children aren't generally allowed to be at the Ministry unless they are required to for some reason such as a court case or something."

"That would be Fudge's doing not mine," Amelia argued, "personally I've been trying to get a bill passed that allows for young witches and wizards to do apprenticeships at the Ministry over the summer to get some experience and figure out what they want to do after school but Fudge doesn't see it the same way.."

"Fudge just doesn't like most children very much unless they are the children of his more important supporters that help keep him in power," Karen said with a sigh, "he probably wouldn't have wanted Harry here for this if it hadn't been for that fact that he's...well the boy-who-lived."

"Only because he wants to meet you Harry," Amelia pointed out with a grunt, "be careful of Fudge Harry, he will no doubt try to bribe you in order to get your endorsement and public support."

By now they were just getting to the Minister of Magic's office and after getting past security as well as the Minister's personal secretary, they entered Fudge's office after knocking and being granted access.

When Harry first saw the Minister of Magic, he was immediately aware of just how different the fashion sense was for Muggles and Wizards. No way the Head of State in Britain in the Muggle World would ever wear such unusual clothing.

Cornelius Fudge was dressed in a purple and orange striped suit with a matching purple bowler hat on.

"Hello Amelia," Cornelius said politely to her then turning all of his attention on him, "ah Mr. Potter, we meet at last!"

Harry looked at him for a moment before deciding he ought to be polite and say back, "pleased to meet you too Minister Fudge."

Minister Fudge seemed to be looking at him like he had just won some sort of trophy as he said jovially, "well then not everyday the Minister of Magic gets to meet the Great Harry Potter is it?"

"No, I suppose not," Harry agreed, "I've read and heard all about you though."

In truth he hadn't exactly heard or read about a lot of good things about Fudge as Minister, in truth from what he could tell he was a bit of bumbling fool that was just good at campaigning and tricking the masses into voting for him...but then again that seemed to be true of most politicians.

Still Fudge considered what he had said to him as a compliment as he smiled widely.

Amelia however he knew did not like him despite the fact that he was technically her boss and she suspected the feeling was mutual as Fudge feared that she might try to take his job from him, which she really didn't have any interest in doing as she hated politics. She in fact often complained about her current job as it meant too much paperwork and not enough action and she was getting fat from sitting at her desk all the time.

However she was really good at her job which was why Fudge kept her around despite considering her a threat.

"Maybe you would like to maybe go to some public events with me, what do you say Harry?" Fudge asked him hopefully, "in fact there is this Charity Ball coming up in a couple of weeks, some big names will be there that I would be happy to introduce you to."

Harry had heard about it and had even been planning on going already as Amelia had to go as part of her job and Susan decided she wanted to go too.

Amelia had however warned him what Fudge would be up to and he definitely didn't support much of what the Minister was doing, but he didn't want to directly insult him either.

"I'll be there," Harry said simply, although already planning on avoiding Fudge like the plague while there.

"Excellent!" Fudge declared, seeming pleased as he had a wide smile as he continued to try and sweet talk him a little, "are you planning on bringing a date? I'm sure there are lots of lovely ladies vying for your attention."

Harry immediately thought of Susan, but he hadn't been planning on bringing her like on an official date or anything.

Fudge however wagged his eyebrows, taking his silence for confirmation as he said, "ah, so there is a special lady in Harry Potter's life then. I can't wait to meet the special young lady and of course I would be happy to introduce her as well to all the big names, why there is-"

"Excuse me Minister, but could we proceed with this, I have a lot of work to do afterwards," Amelia pointed out in irritation.

"Ah, trying to catch Lestrange and Black no doubt," Fudge said looking unconcerned, "they probably drowned or froze to death while trying to escape, I don't see why we have to use such resources for such an extensive manhunt only to unnecessarily frighten people."

"We must take all precautions and not simply make assumptions," Amelia argued, "in fact one of my best people already got a lead that Black might be-"

"Yes, yes, more of your rumors," Fudge declared dismissively.

Seeing that the subject was going off topic, Karen suggested, "well why don't we sit down and get the formalities out of the way before signing the adoption agreement?"

"Very well then," Fudge agreed as he went over to his desk and sat in his overly ornate gold chair like that of a king's throne. Fudge reached over and produced the adoption papers with a flourish as he told Harry, "well then it shall be my great honor to sign this for you Harry if this is what you still want."

He said it like it meant that Harry now owed him a favor if he did sign it and he could tell that Fudge wasn't particularly excited to sign the adoption over to Amelia, but Harry decided he didn't care as long as Fudge signed it.

"Yes, this is what I want," Harry told him, looking at both Amelia and Karen as they were both smiling at him.

Fudge finally did sign it after a bit more bluster and the adoption papers were signed.

"Welcome to the family Harry!" Karen said as she went and gave him a hug.

A burst of excitement and happiness hit him then and it continued even as Amelia went and gave him a hug too.

He was part of a real family now.

Yet just as he was about to truly celebrate inside, an auror rushed into the Minister's office out of breath as he looked at both Amelia and the Minister, "they told me I would find you here, your hunch was correct Madame Bones, I think we've located Black."

….

**Hermione**

While Harry was gone with Susan's Aunt and Mother the girls had all been dropped off at Diagon Alley to go shopping.

Amelia had insisted that they stay in public places and Hermione had noticed at least 3 different Aurors patrolling the streets so far.

Despite the extra security however, Hermione couldn't help but enjoy being able to be in the company of just them girls as they did a little shopping trip.

Only a couple years ago, she couldn't have dreamed ever getting to do this with a bunch of girl friends, as they went shopping, mostly just looking around as they also talked about clothes or cute boys, or more specifically Harry in their case.

With Harry usually around it was kind of hard to talk about him in this way, but in this rare moment with him not there they couldn't seem to resist talking about him.

It was pretty clear now that they all had major crushes on him and they had just decided to let that fact out in the open, which might have caused problems, but so far it hadn't as they gushed and fawned all about him.

He was indeed growing up to be a rather handsome young man, he didn't look at all scrawny anymore, had grown taller than any of them, and still of course had his gorgeous emerald green eyes and messy black hair that she kept wanting to run her hands through.

After looking around at some other stores for a bit while they talked about Harry, Hermione then asked, "so what else do you want to do or look at girls?"

"Something that we couldn't normally do with Harry around," Daphne suggested, "Harry's great and it's been fun talking about him with you girls but it is nice to be able to do something just us girls for a change."

"It has been rather nice," Hermione was forced to admit, "but it does feel like we are definitely missing someone without him here."

"Still let's do something we couldn't do when he is around," Daphne said mischievously.

"Lingerie shopping maybe?" Susan suggested.

"That certainly is one thing that I'm not about to do in front of Harry," Hermione agreed.

"Why not?" Daphne argued, "it's not like it is any more revealing than say a bikini which is basically just underwear for swimming."

"I guess you do have a point," Hermione was forced to admit even though she still wasn't willing to try it. In truth though she had yet to wear a bikini herself, opting for a more modest one piece so far. Susan and Daphne however had no problem with doing so.

"I thought he was going to self-combust when he saw me come out in my new swimsuit the other day," Susan observed.

"Well when you've got as much to show off as you do it is no wonder the poor boy acted like that," Daphne pointed out, "it makes even me want to stare at you."

"He really does try though," Padma pointed out, "I mean I'm not nearly as curvy as you Susan or even you Hermione or Daphne, but even I've been doing some growing and while Harry does notice, he does it rather respectfully."

"Well about as respectfully as a young teenage boy can be expected to act anyway," Daphne added.

"I actually rather like it when he looks at me though," Susan admitted, "why do you think I got that bikini anyway?"

Daphne grinned and said, "well we all like to show off a bit, in particular to a certain black haired, emerald green eyed boy."

Hermione sighed as she admitted, "I feel like we make it worse when we feel like we need to compete against each other."

In truth she felt rather awkward showing off her body like that, but she also felt the need to do so in order to compete with the other girls.

"Yeah, I've been trying not to, but I have been doing it more lately subconsciously now that you mention it," Susan agreed.

In truth, they were all still quite young and were only just starting to understand their changing bodies, but they also all did want to be considered pretty and show off...to varying degrees. Hermione and Padma were much more conservative while Susan and Daphne less so.

"Well let's go get some stuff just for us then, not like Harry will ever see us in any of it and I'm sure we could all use some new bras before the school year starts and it is harder to get them," Daphne pointed out.

With that they all went shopping both for bras and underwear as well as for regular clothes too.

As Hermione tried on various outfits she did have to admit she was developing into a rather attractive looking girl. She wasn't as busty as Susan or even Daphne, but she did have a nice, big firm bum that Daphne often complimented her on.

Her bushy, unmanageable hair, thanks to some hair potions that Susan and Daphne had given her, had finally started to straighten itself out and was now thick, shiny, lusterous, long, and fell to her waist.

As they each tried on outfits and modeled a little in front of each other, they each also complimented each other on how good they looked in each outfit.

Ordinarily clothes shopping really wasn't her thing, but she did have to admit that she was certainly enjoying herself trying on new clothes even though she probably wouldn't buy most of them.

It did however feel good to know that she looked good and wasn't just simply an ugly, know-it-all bookworm.

For the first time, she thought of herself as pretty, and she didn't feel at all jealous in thinking that each of her very good friends with her were very pretty as well.

…..

After that as they walked down Diagon Alley Hermione spotted the pet store and asked the other girls if they might want to stop inside.

"I've been wanting to maybe get an owl," Hermione confessed.

"Sure," Susan agreed easily as they stepped inside, "any particular kind you were wanting?"

Susan then began rattling off different owl species which rather impressed Hermione. Different types of owls was one thing she hadn't taken the time to study yet herself.

"You sure know a lot about owls," Hermione observed.

Susan had talked about owls several times, but it was cool to see her get so excited about them each time.

"I love owls," Susan admitted, practically gushing with enjoyment on her face, "my favorite animal actually. Take Harry's owl Hedwig for example, absolutely gorgeous isn't she?"

Susan had a major love for Harry's owl along with her own barn owl Cleo and she swore Susan visited the owlery more than any other student that she knew.

"Yeah, Harry's owl is almost as gorgeous as he is," Padma agreed with a small sigh as she looked on with a glazed look in her eyes.

As they entered the pet shop however, immediately they were greeted by loud barking.

"Scabbers!" They heard Ron Weasley yell.

Hermione noticed Ron's pet rat Scabbers running around the pet store floor, desperately trying to escape as a big black but very thin dog raced after it.

"Bowzer!" One of the shop employees yelled, "stop!"

The dog however didn't listen as it continued to chase Scabbers, barking the whole time.

Yet then the shop door opened as another customer tried to come in behind them.

Seeing its chance, Scabbers made a mad dash for the open door as the dog desperately tried to get to it first.

It looked like Scabbers was going to make it, the doorway had just enough room as it closed for him to escape and the door to slam shut on the dog...but then at the last moment a cat pounced from one of the counters above and grabbed up Scabbers itself.

Scabbers seemed to be desperately trying to get away from the cat, but the cat instead of trying to eat it, merely just held it tightly, seeming to be waiting for the dog for some reason.

Much to everyone's amazement, the dog then turned magically into a man.

Nearly everyone there who had seen the wanted posters exclaimed all at the same time with surprise and fear: "It's Sirius Black!"

"I finally got you Wormtail," Sirius said happily as he took the rat from the cat with much thanks, "thank you Crookshanks. You've been most helpful, don't worry I'm going to return and I'm going to adopt you once I'm free."

At that about a half dozen aurors all showed up inside the shop all with their wands pointed at Black, but he didn't seem at all concerned.

Amelia was actually there only a moment later, a triumphant look on her face.

"I'll go quietly," Sirius promised, "just make sure to examine the rat that's all I ask."

"The rat?" One of the aurors asked in confusion.

"Yes, he's Peter Pettigrew," Sirius explained, "if you will just examine him-"

"We aren't doing anything for you or believing your lies scum!" Another auror insisted.

"Please just examine the rat!" Sirius pleaded.

Amelia unlike any of the aurors seemed curious enough as she said, "it couldn't hurt to at least find out if he's somehow telling the truth."

She cast her wand at the rat that was still desperately trying to get away from Sirius' hand.

Much to everyone's amazement, the rat also then changed into a man and as it got larger Sirius dropped it onto the floor.

The man looked around with beady eyes, letting out several terribly scared squeaks, still sounding much like a rat.

Several people including half the aurors seemed to recognize him and with amazement exclaimed, "it's Peter Pettigrew!"

"Arrest this man," Peter Pettigrew declared, finally seeming to remember how to talk as he pointed at Sirius.

"Peter?" Amelia asked, seeming amazed herself.

"He was the one who betrayed James and Lily, killed all those Muggles, faked his own death, and framed me for the crimes," Sirius insisted.

It seemed like a rather tall order for him to have accomplished all that, but the fact that Peter Pettigrew had now been proven to be hiding as a rat all this time did give at least some credit to his story.

Amelia didn't seem entirely convinced of everything but still thought it a good idea to bring both of them into custody to get to the bottom of what really happened.

Hermione was however eventually allowed to go look for and find an owl along with her friends, Susan in particular was more than happy to help her find the right one as she helped her look over each and every owl in the shop.

She finally decided on a beautiful snowy owl like Harry's Hedwig, only this one was male. Who knows, maybe Hedwig and her new owl that she named Archimedes might fall for each other?

Still throughout the rest of what remained of their shopping trip, what they discussed most of all together was the capture of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew and what would happen to them.


	11. Dating Advice

**Chapter 11**

**Dating Advice**

**Harry**

"You are free to go Mr. Black," The judge ruled as he hit his hammer down with a loud thunk, causing tons of conversations to echo throughout the courtroom at the ruling.

Sirius Black looked very relieved as he couldn't help but look at the sky and declare loudly, "I'M A FREE MAN!"

Harry couldn't help but feel rather conflicted as he had watched the proceedings of the trial, he had heard the story from Amelia that this man was responsible for the deaths of his parents and he had hated him for it and yet it turned out Sirius Black had been totally innocent and Peter Pettigrew, believed dead but instead alive and hiding as a rat had actually betrayed his parents.

Much to his surprise Sirius then looked over in their direction upon learning that he was a free man and went over to him and his friends, along with Amelia and Karen.

"I'm a free man," Sirius told Amelia first as if to prove she didn't need to track and hunt him down anymore.

Amelia looked guilty but managed to say, "I'm glad it worked out for you, sorry no one believed you."

"You were the one who made sure Peter was discovered for the traitor that he is," Sirius told her, "I don't know how I'll ever thank you."

Amelia shifted her feet as she admitted, "I was also one of the ones who ensured that you were also convicted so I don't think I deserve any thanks, if anything I actually owe you 12 years of your life."

"Still I'm thanking you anyway," Sirius told her.

Amelia looked at him for a moment then nodded.

Sirius then turned to look at Harry, his eyes seeming hardly able to believe what he was seeing as he admitted, "I don't know if you knew this Harry but I'm actually your parent's godfather for you."

"I knew," Harry said simply. At the time he had heard this, he had been very upset about it as he had still believed that Sirius had betrayed his parents at the time, but now he didn't know what to think.

"I'm told that you are part of the Bones Family now," Sirius declared seeming to still be digesting this news before finally declaring, "I think your parents would have approved if they had been alive, I'm betting that you would make them very proud in fact."

"I try to make them proud," Harry agreed.

Sirius looked at him for another long moment as if coming to know it was really him before then looking at his assembled friends Hermione, Susan, Padma, and Daphne as he introduced themselves to him, "I'm Sirius Black."

Each of the girls also introduced themselves to him, all of them looking rather awkward about doing so and wondering what to make of this situation.

Sirius however seemed to not let the rather shaky conversation get to him and instead spoke to Karen as he nodded at her and said simply, "Karen."

She nodded back and said, "Sirius."

He looked at both the Bones women then as he commented, "you've both aged well. Looking even better than the last time I saw either of you over a decade ago."

Karen couldn't help but smile as she shook her head and admitted, "you always were the charmer Sirius."

Amelia however looked annoyed as she commented, "more like always the troublemaker."

"You can't blame a guy for trying," Sirius claimed with a shrug, "speaking of which, how would you like to go out with me sometime Amelia?"

Amelia actually looked quite surprised as she asked, "are you serious?"

"Why yes I am Sirius!" Sirius declared, laughing at his joke he likely hadn't gotten to use in a very long while.

Amelia rolled her eyes but her sister Karen teased her with, 'well you walked right into that one."

"So how about it?" Sirius pressed, "how does tonight at 7 sound? I'd really like to celebrate my first night of newfound freedom with a beautiful woman?"

"I'm afraid I've got a lot of paperwork to file," Amelia claimed, "which you by the way are the cause of, I'm glad that you are free but you're definitely going to cause a lot of legal headaches finishing sorting this whole thing out."

"I thought you said you owed me 12 years of my life?" Sirius pointed out, "the least you can do is give me one evening?"

"He does have a point," Karen pointed out to her sister, elbowing her as if encouraging her to accept.

Amelia finally relented as she said, "oh alright then, I suppose I can just get one of my underlings to do most of the paperwork like I'm usually tempted to do. Tonight at 7 it is."

"Tonight at 7 it is," Sirius repeated, a big grin on his face.

…

With Amelia having apparently gotten a date, Harry was reminded of whether or not he was going to have a date himself for the upcoming Charity Ball with Susan and he was wondering if he should ask her or if it would ruin things with his other friends.

He was sure they would understand as it would only be for the Charity Ball, it didn't have to mean that they were going out or in a relationship or anything, but still he worried about it.

When Sirius showed up to pick up Amelia for their date, Amelia was still getting ready so Sirius used the opportunity to talk to him.

"I see I'm not the only one who has game," Sirius observed with a sly smile.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"Those 'friends' of yours," Sirius pointed out, "really good looking girls Harry if you don't mind me saying."

"They are all very attractive," Harry agreed, "but they are just friends."

"I saw the way they looked at you after the trial," Sirius said, "I don't think they see you as just a friend and I doubt you see them as just friends either."

Harry sighed, not really wanting to talk about this to someone he didn't really know all that well even if he was his godfather but still admitted, "well yes I know they don't, but things would be just too complicated if I tried to date any of them, I might hurt the other 3 if I did that."

"So just go on dates with all of them then," Sirius pointed out with a shrug, "I went on dates just about every weekend when I was in school and I made sure the girls I went out with knew it wasn't going to be anything serious, just an opportunity to have a little fun together and get a bit of dating experience as well as help both of us decide what was actually important to us in a potential relationship with someone. You're a teenager, you're supposed to date all sorts of different girls to see what you like in a girl and to have a good time, not to decide right then and there if you are going to marry the girl or not."

Harry did have to see his point, it did make a lot of sense to him.

"So what should I do?" Harry asked, now quite interested, "just explain I don't want to make a big deal out of anything, but I'd like to go out on dates with them if they want?"

"Of course," Sirius said, "it's only when you are older like me that you have to start worrying about marriage and all that. That being said, I'll be lucky to even get through this date with Amelia, I'm rather rusty with dating and this is actually the first time I could even get her to say yes.

She turned me down about half a dozen times while we were in school which of course only made me want to go after her more. I always did have trouble with the redheads getting them to go out with me which only made me want to go after them even more, I would have problems with her sister Karen too if she wasn't obviously already in love with her future husband Roger and I would have likely had problems with your mother too if I hadn't laid off her because James was so enamored with her."

Harry was about to ask if Sirius could maybe share some stories about his parents as he realized that he had plenty of them, but the first story that came to his mind that he wanted to hear was:

"So how did you escape from Azkaban anyway?"

Harry hoped he wasn't asking too difficult a subject for Sirius to answer, but Sirius didn't seem to mind although he did shudder a few times during his story:

"Well as was revealed in the trial, I'm actually an unregistered animagus," Sirius declared, "being in my dog form afforded me some defense against the dementors in Azkaban, but prison was still absolutely horrible and I thought about escaping many times and how I would do it. Yet when I saw Bellatrix try to escape I just knew I had to stop her, I wasn't really concerned about what would happen to me if I was recaptured, by then I was so done with prison I decided I would rather be killed in the attempt then stay where I was. I just barely managed to squeeze through the bars in my dog form as thin as I was and go after her.

Me and Bellatrix fought with it ending in a draw, but she managed to jump from the roof and I jumped in after her. I must have knocked myself unconscious in the landing but I was fortunate enough to wash up along the shore of the small island that Azkaban Prison sits on, hurt and very weak, but transforming into my black dog form under the cover of night, I managed to find a piece of driftwood to keep myself buoyant and swim slowly to the mainland.

After taking several days to recover, subsisting off garbage that I found in my dog form, I then decided to find out if Bellatrix had also escaped and decided to risk going to a magical neighbourhood to find a wizard newspaper and find out.

Unfortunately I was caught by someone who mistook me for a dog and decided to try and sell me to that pet shop. I'm sure I looked very mangy and out of shape, but for the first time I was actually grateful that I was a pureblood because as a dog that also translates to purebred, which made me worth bringing back to full health and trying to resell me.

I was figuring on trying to escape from the pet shop too, but then as luck would have it, I smelled Wormtail entering the shop and I saw it as my chance to prove my freedom.

Fortunately with the help of Crookshanks, the cat that I befriended while in the pet shop and who I have just now adopted, helped catch Wormtail for me.

Then once it was proven that Scabbers was actually Peter Pettigrew and Amelia eventually got a confession out of him, I was quickly given a new trial and with all the new evidence I was declared a free man."

Harry was rather impressed by such a story, Sirius clearly still must a lot in him despite everything that he had gone through to survive such an ordeal.

"So what are you going to do now that you are free?" Harry asked.

"I'm going to try and recover and get back on my feet and just enjoy life for a time," Sirius declared, "and then I really want to try and help Amelia track down Bellatrix, assuming that Amelia hasn't caught her by then, she nearly caught me somehow before I got to Peter first."

"She is good, but I have a feeling Bellatrix will be quite a challenge," Harry grimly admitted.

He was about to ask Sirius for another story, this one about his parents and how they had fallen in love but then Amelia came out, dressed very nicely in a black dress that showed off her still incredible figure...nothing too revealing, but enough that it certainly gave Sirius plenty to look over.

"Wow, you're absolutely incredible!" Sirius admitted, praising her.

Amelia for the first time that he could remember blushed as she said, "thank you Sirius."

Sirius then gave him a wink before leaving with Amelia as he said, "good luck to you Harry, I hope to be able to see you again sometime."

"Sure I would like that," Harry said, thinking again about asking Sirius for stories about his parents.

At any rate after a moment of talking, Sirius and Amelia headed off on their date, leaving Harry to think long and hard about his own potential dating life.

…

Hermione

It just so happened that all 5 members of the study group were over at Susan's house the next night and they were all busy in a rousing game of Magical Trivia.

Hermione couldn't help but enjoy this sort of game as it tested their knowledge of various subjects.

"What is the Draught of Living Death?" Susan read from the card, having decided to be the card reader and judge.

Immediately all 4 of their hands raised at the same time.

Finally Susan decided to pick Padma as she decided Padma might have raised her hand a split second faster.

Padma smiled and went into great detail on how to brew it, each ingredient to use and how to prepare them, their quantity, and the overall effect of the potion as well as potential side effects particularly if it wasn't brewed correctly, then what was the antidote and how to administer it.

Susan however sighed after the long winded explanation as she said, "it just says on the card what the potion actually does, the rest wasn't needed.

Daphne laughed and pointed out, "come on, you can't expect us not to want to explain as much in detail as we can. We're The Study Group after all."

"She does have a point," Harry agreed before suggesting, "maybe you'd better try a different subject, one that we wouldn't all know so well."

Susan then went to the category Popular Magical Artists and picked out a card.

"What is Celestina Warbeck's first hit #1 song?" Susan read aloud.

At that, nobody's hands were raised as absolutely all of them were stumped and seemed to have no idea. She couldn't even name one of Celestina Warbeck's songs, much less her first hit song.

"I'm a Muggleborn, how am I supposed to know that," Hermione questioned, thinking this unfair.

"I don't have a clue either and I'm a pureblood," Daphne admitted.

"Parvati my sister would have definitely known," Padma claimed, "clothes, music, fashion, and make up are what she knows, while I know everything else it seems."

"It's okay everybody, I wouldn't have known either," Susan confessed as she picked up another card from the same category and read that aloud, "what are the Weird Sisters' names?"

Again none of them had any clue.

"Evidently there is a subject we know nothing about," Hermione commented, feeling a bit better that nobody else seemed to know the answers for this subject either.

For all the studying that they did, they remained woefully ignorant of pop culture as none of them had ever really cared much about that even though it seemed the rest of the school did.

After reading several more questions in that category and getting the exact same results with none of them knowing anything, Susan decided it was best to get to the subjects that they actually knew a lot about even though she had to endure some overly long and unnecessary answers.

The game moved on with it being a 4 way tie late in the game, decided only by the final question.

"I win!" Hermione declared proudly, having just barely managed to get her hand up a split second faster than the rest of them to answer the final question.

"What does she win then Susan?" Daphne asked her.

"Learning that knowledge is it's own reward," Padma concluded.

Daphne gave her a look of annoyance at that as that seemed to be Padma's answer for everything.

"You can get the first slice of pie later?" Susan suggested, "I hadn't really thought there would be any reward for the winner. In truth I actually would rather have liked to keep it a tie and not had a tie breaker, that way everyone wins.."

"Ties are boring though," Daphne complained, "I don't even care if I don't win, I just want there to be a winner."

Harry seemed to straighten his shirt nervously as he suggested, "well I can think of a reward for Hermione as well as all of you if you would be okay with it. So I was thinking it might be fun to maybe get a little experience with another subject we don't really know all that well and try maybe dating?"

At that, there was complete silence as all 4 girls looked at him with wide and surprised eyes. Was Harry really going to-"

Harry looked nervous as he then decided to explain, "so I was just thinking it didn't have to be too big of a deal, I mean we're still young and have plenty of time for anything serious, just some occasional dates with each of you if you think that would be fun and beneficial."

Each of them seemed to mull that over for a moment before Susan declared, "well that does sound like fun and you're right we don't need to stress about making it a big deal. I would love to go with you on a date sometime Harry."

"Me too," Padma instantly agreed, a smile on her face.

"I guess I'll let you take me out on a date," Daphne added but she was also smiling.

"That would be nice," Hermione concluded as it did seem to be a good idea and quite fun to be able to go on a date with Harry, especially since they didn't need to make a big deal out of it or stress about which of them Harry was truly in a relationship with yet, "so since I won our game does that mean I get the first date with you?"

"If you want, I just thought of it as a potential reward," Harry said looking nervous.

"When do you want to have this date then?" Hermione asked.

"How about tomorrow night if that is alright?" Harry suggested.

"Sounds perfect," Hermione agreed even though she was already fretting about what she would wear and how she should act. It was just Harry and it wasn't something big, but it was still a date with her big crush and that still had her panicking.

"I was thinking maybe next I could take you this weekend then Susan," Harry suggested, "to that Charity Ball thing?"

Susan smiled, seeming to like the idea as she instantly agreed.

Harry then turned to Padma and Daphne as he then said, "then maybe each of you some other time?"

"Sounds good," Padma agreed, seeming pleased and satisfied with Daphne also just nodding, seeming to be trying not to sound too eager and try and keep a Slytherin like facade.

With that out of the way, Harry looked relieved but there was a bit of an awkward silence before Hermione decided it would be best to move on as she suggested, "anyone want to play Clue?"


	12. First Dates

**Chapter 12**

**First Dates**

**Hermione**

It was her first ever date and Hermione was worrying endlessly as she tried to figure out if she looked okay as she stood in front of her mirror inside of her bedroom at her house.

"You look hot Hermione!" Daphne insisted as she had come over to help her get ready.

Hermione blushed as she said, "thanks."

She did look really good she had to admit. She wasn't wearing anything too fancy or revealing in her blue dress but she was certainly dressed a lot nicer than she normally did.

"Harry isn't going to know what hit him," Daphne praised her again, "just don't seem too eager, we want our boy feeling like he needs to put some effort into it because you my dear are worth it."

"Ooh, what if I mess up though?" Hermione questioned, "I mean I took the time to read a couple dating books earlier, but it says that-"

"Books can only teach you so much, but what they can't teach you, you've already got if you just allow yourself to relax and have a good time," Daphne told her wisely.

"I wish I had your confidence," Hermione replied.

"Oh I'm sure I'll be nervous too when I get to go on a date with Harry," Daphne answered, "however the way I see it, we've already known Harry for years now, he's a good friend of ours, and we know he already likes us if that makes things any easier for you."

"Yeah, but this is an actual date," Hermione complained.

"We don't need to make a big deal out of it though," Daphne argued, "unless you decide to kiss him or something."

Hermione blushed as she had thought about doing so about a thousand times by now, but she didn't think it wise to go that far, especially not on a first date.

"Not that I can blame you if you do," Daphne said, "whether you do or not though I plan to kiss him on my date with him."

"Really?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, in fact I plan to have sex with him too," Daphne added.

Hermione's eyes widened with her mouth wide open.

Daphne however laughed as she said, "oh goodness you are just too easy. Still I don't see anything wrong with kissing someone on a date, it doesn't have to be a big deal if both of us want to. I'll see how things go and if I decide Harry has earned it from me by the end of our date. I don't want to give in too easily, always leave the boys wanting more."

"Do you think I should...kiss him I mean?" Hermione asked, "I mean that's kind of a big step, especially since we aren't even really in a relationship or anything. Maybe we ought to plan it out, I could even come up with a chart and-"

"Why don't us girls just agree to do what Harry and we feel comfortable with doing on our dates?" Daphne suggested, "nothing too much I suspect, just a quick kiss or maybe hold hands, none of us I'm sure are really ready for anything more."

"Okay, well that sounds good," Hermione agreed, relaxing a little even though she was still thinking about kissing Harry.

At that, her mother called for her and said, "Harry is here!"

With one last look at her appearance and Daphne giving her the thumbs up, she finally went to go join Harry.

Her mother however stopped her in front of the hallway as she looked her over and said, "you look lovely Hermione."

"Thanks mum," She told her, managing a smile.

Her mother however then started tearing up a little as she said, "I can't believe my little girl is so grown up."

"It's just a date mum and with Harry who I've already spent loads of time with, it's nothing too serious," Hermione said, trying to reassure her.

"I know," Her mother said shaking her head as she walked with her over to the front door where Harry was waiting along with her father.

Her father seemed to have been glaring at Harry as if trying to silently threaten him.

"Be nice Neal," Her mother warned her overprotective father.

Her father however then turned to look at her, seeming to suddenly be aware that his daughter was not a little girl anymore and it only seemed to worry him even more.

"Are you sure that dress is appropriate?" Her father asked her worriedly.

In truth, her dress was actually rather modest, with it going to her ankles, and completely covering her shoulders and chest.

"I think she looks just fine Dear," Her mother again came to her rescue.

"Hi Hermione," Harry said nervously, also looking her over, seeming impressed, "you look great."

"You too," Hermione said, also looking him over.

He really was so very cute dressed in a business casual like button up black shirt and jeans. He seemed to have tried combing his hair, with mixed results, and she was dying to run her hands through it even if she would only end up messing it up again.

After a bit more conversation with her parents and some silent warnings directed Harry's way by her father, they finally got to leave and go on their date.

As their mode of transportation, Harry called for the Knight Bus, which arrived a moment later and the conductor greeted them, a gangly youth she guessed to be around 18 or 19 years old:

"My name is Stan Shunpike, I will be your conductor this evening on the Knight Bus, transportation for the stranded witch or wizard."

Stan gave her an appreciative look even though she was much younger than him as he commented, "why you're looking lovely this evening."

She however quickly shut him down as she admitted, "thanks, we're on a date."

Stan looked at Harry as he commented with an impressed smile, "why good for you then mate, treat her well then right?"

At that, Harry paid for their fare and told Stan where he wanted them to go before they got on and found a seat next to each other.

They traveled mostly in silence, occasionally looking at each other as both of them were quite nervous.

However as the bus suddenly stopped much too quickly with a sudden lurch in order to pick up another passenger, she instinctively reached for and grasped Harry's hand.

"Sorry," She apologized instantly as she pulled her hand away.

"It's okay, you can do that if you want," Harry told her before then getting bold and grabbing her hand again and asking just to be sure, "you okay if we do that?"

"Yes," She said simply, even though on the inside she was practically screaming YES! Harry was actually holding her hand.

They continued to hold hands all through the rest of their travels with her heart giving little pitter patters before they finally arrived at a somewhat classy Muggle restaurant.

"My Aunt and Uncle would usually go here for their dates," Harry confessed, "always kind of wanted to go myself just to see what it was like."

At that, they headed into the restaurant, still hand in hand. It wasn't a super fancy restaurant, but nice enough and after quickly getting a table, Harry pulled out a chair for her to sit down on.

"Thank you," Hermione said, feeling a bit odd about being pampered like that.

In truth Harry was usually quite a gentleman already, often getting the door for her and the other girls in the study group to go through, or thanking them even for the smallest of gestures, but it was nice to see this sort of thing on a date with him too.

All through dinner she found herself relaxing more and more as she and Harry got used to the idea of being on a date together and just had a good time. Much of their conversation was about wizard stuff which no doubt got a lot of odd looks from the people sitting next to them, but then Harry got the bright idea to explain:

"It's a role playing game," Harry explained, getting some understanding nods from the people around them as if that explained everything even though they did get some eye rolls at some of the weird games that kids played nowadays.

Really though she had a great time going on her first date with Harry, it had been a lot of fun and she was looking forward to more sometime in the future with him if he wanted to again as it seemed he did.

At the end however as he dropped her back off at home she got nervous again.

"So I hope you had a good time," He said, fumbling with his empty hands, "I certainly did."

"Yes I certainly did," Hermione agreed, once she had relaxed and not worried about what might happen, she had had a great time and was hoping Harry would ask her on a date in the future so she asked, "we should do this again sometime."

"Sure, sounds great," Harry agreed, looking pleased, "so see you later then Hermione."

She however didn't really want to end their date like this, not because she felt obligated to, but because she wanted to at least do this as she quickly gave Harry a kiss on the cheek.

It was only on the cheek as she had decided that was good for now, but still Harry touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him.

"Good night Hermione," He told her.

"Good night," She agreed as she opened her front door and went inside, still thinking of her first ever date and how it went.

….

**Harry**

The next weekend Harry picked up Susan then for her date with him for the Charity Ball. To be fair though, since he already lived with her he wasn't really picking her up, merely stood outside her bedroom door waiting for her.

Still when she came out of her room, his eyes still went wide at her appearance, thinking the same thing he had first thought when he saw Hermione: she looked hot!

Susan was dressed in a more revealing dress than Hermione, wearing a black dress that went to her knees and hugged her curvy figure as well as showing off some of her tantalizing cleavage. Considering the fact that he had seen her in a bikini plenty of times by now over this summer she had already revealed a lot more to him, but seeing her in that dress got just as much of his attention and seemed oddly just as sexy.

Susan seemed pleased by his reaction to her outfit as she told him, blushing a bit, "I'm really looking forward to our date Harry."

"Me too," He answered, "you look incredible Susan."

She smiled and said, "thank you Harry, you too."

Feeling a bit bold but wanting to make sure it was okay at the same time, he held out his hand for her to take which she smiled and took as they held hands.

It was interesting how even holding hands with a girl could be this great feeling.

Hand-in-hand they headed over to where Susan's mother and Aunt had their rooms side by side.

Their mother Karen (should he start calling her mum he wondered, he knew it wouldn't be expected but it would be rather nice) emerged first, dressed in a fancy red dress, also displaying the curves it seemed all Bones women seemed to have.

"You look beautiful mum," Susan praised her mother.

"You really do...mum," Harry said, deciding to try it out.

Both Bones women looked surprised but pleased that he would call her that.

"Is that alright?" Harry asked tentatively

"Of course it is Harry," Karen told him, smiling as she seemed pleased by this new title that he had called her.

"She can be your mum too if you want Harry," Susan encouraged him.

"I think I'd like that," Harry finally said, liking the idea, "still I think you look much too attractive to be mine or anyone else's mother."

Karen smiled again and commented, "well thank you Harry, I can see why Susan likes you so much...well one reason anyway."

"Oh there are lots of reasons to like Harry," Susan insisted, giving him a wide smile.

"There are lots of reasons to like you too," Harry answered, looking deep into her eyes.

He wanted to kiss her right then, but decided that would be too much especially in front of their mother as he instead resisted and then asked, "so where is Amelia?"

"I'm here," Amelia answered, just now coming out of her room, dressed very nicely in a gold dress.

"Wow, I haven't seen you wear that dress in quite awhile," Her sister Karen pointed out.

"Yeah and apparently I've gained more than a few pounds since then," Amelia admitted, "I feel like it might rip if I'm not careful...not that Sirius would mind."

"You are going with Sirius Black?" Susan asked.

"Yes," Amelia admitted, blushing a bit, "it is going much better than I would have expected, this would actually be our third date."

"You know what that means," Karen teased her.

"Karen!" Amelia scolded her sister, "I'm sure Sirius doesn't expect us to go that far...not that I would let him anyway. We're just going to take things slow and see how it goes for now."

"Well I'm glad that you're happy," Karen told her, "I think both you and Sirius in fact deserve happiness after everything that both of you have gone through in your lives."

"Yeah Sirius definitely had it rough in prison and I'm not sure if he'll ever fully recover from his ordeal," Amelia admitted grimly, "still he seems to look and seem better each time I see him, so there is that."

"Or maybe you just find yourself liking him more," Karen pointed out.

"Yes perhaps that too," Amelia conceded, "anyway enough about my love life, let's focus on the two of you Harry and Susan, you both look really nice."

"Thank you Aunty, you too," Susan replied.

Harry noticed with a start that both he and Susan were still holding hands, but it seemed neither of the two Bones women seemed to mind, which was the exact opposite of what Hermione's father had been, he looked like he was about to kill him for going out on a date with his little girl.

However Susan's mother and Aunt seemed to be actually very much approving of the fact that he and Susan were going on a date, especially since they would both be around during most of it.

At any rate, after talking for a little while longer he and Susan were side-along apparated over to where the Charity Ball was to take place.

As soon as they got there, Harry noticed it really was a quite grand affair, with never melting ice sculptures, the Weird Sisters playing music, some dancers, as well as house elves scurrying about offering food and drinks on trays.

Amelia left them once she spotted Sirius and Karen went to go get something to drink, but he and Susan stood there for a moment looking around. Admittedly he felt a bit awkward wondering what he should say or do, much like he had at the beginning of his date with Hermione.

However then Minister Fudge noticed him with a pleased smile and came over to him, accompanied by his entourage of supporters.

"Harry Potter!" Fudge declared happily, "it is good to see you at my Charity Ball, and it looks like you did bring a date after all, you lucky boy."

"Yes, this is Susan Bones," Harry introduced her to the Minister.

However Fudge didn't seem to give Susan another glance as he was now entirely focused on him, "so Harry I would like you to meet-"

There followed Harry being introduced to all sorts of important sounding people, all of which seemed inclined to try and win his favor as they surrounded him and pressed him with trying to offer gifts or reasons for him to come to various events...which he declined over and over again pointing out that he was still in school and school would be starting up again soon. Really he had had enough of this sort of treatment, they only cared about him because he was the boy-who-lived.

As soon as he possibly could and not appear too rude he got out of there to rejoin Susan, who had been forced away from him by all the people swarming him.

"I'm so sorry about that Susan," Harry apologized, feeling guilty as he hadn't wanted her to feel forgotten or abandoned.

"It's okay, I know that it wasn't your fault," Susan told him as she took his hand again and squeezed it.

They then helped themselves to some food before finishing eating and merely watching as quite a few couples were dancing.

"Would you like to dance Harry?" Susan asked hopefully.

He could tell she really wanted to, but was hesitant to agree.

He finally admitted, "I don't really know how."

"Neither do I," Susan admitted, "but my mother did show me at least a few things if you want to try."

"Sure," He immediately agreed, feeling better about it if she could show him at least the basics.

They went out onto the dance floor and Susan showed him where to put his hands on her, causing him to blush at the slight physical intimacy before she then demonstrated the steps to a very basic waltz.

He was nervous that he would step on her toes but after awhile of getting used to the steps he began to relax a little and just merely enjoy dancing with Susan.

"You having a good time?" He asked her after a while, still worried about making sure that she did.

"Yes, with you I am," Susan admitted, blushing as she said it.

His heart melted a little at that.

"I'm having a good time with you too," Harry told her, "you're an incredible girl Susan, smart, beautiful, kind, generous and much more. I consider myself lucky to be here with you."

He figured it wouldn't hurt to express at least a little just how he felt about her.

Susan blushed as she said, "thank you Harry."

They danced for quite awhile as they looked into each other's eyes for much of it. She was just so beautiful and amazing, he'd gotten a similar feeling with Hermione and had been tempted to kiss her at the end of their date but he had of course chickened out even though he had been quite thrilled when she had kissed him on the cheek.

Yet with Susan as they danced so close to each other for so long…

He actually leaned in for a moment but then stopped and pulled back.

The motion however was not lost on Susan as she said with a smile, "you can kiss me if you want Harry."

"Really?" He asked her, hardly able to believe his luck.

"Yes I want you to kiss me Harry," Susan told him, blushing again.

Very pleased with that answer he then leaned in and kissed her on the lips, it was brief, but also quite nice and caused both of them to blush even more.

"So that was both of our first kiss then," Harry observed.

"Yeah it was," Susan agreed, still blushing, "I'm glad it could be with you Harry."

"Me too," Harry answered, "to be honest I was tempted to do so with Hermione but then she just kissed me on the cheek instead."

He hoped he wasn't ruining the moment even though he already feared he had.

"Yeah I know," Susan said, not seeming bothered by it, "Hermione told me and the other girls all about it."

"She did?" Harry asked.

"Us girls talk about everything," Susan pointed out, "especially when it comes to you, Hermione filled us in on every aspect of your date with her. She was quite happy about how things went though."

"Oh, well I'm glad Hermione had a good time," Harry said, unsure what to say to that even though he was pleased she had said that to the other girls, even so he quickly then added, "but I don't mean to take away anything from our date by-"

"It's okay Harry," Susan told him reassuringly, "I liked hearing about your date with Hermione from Hermione and so did the other girls and I plan on telling them how our date went later on too. I expect Padma and Daphne will want to do the same after their dates with you and I'll enjoy hearing about that as well."

"I see," Harry said, "I was just worried you girls might get jealous of each other or something."

"No, we're all surprisingly cool with it," Susan told him, "besides jealousy is definitely not a good thing to have and I'd like to think we are such good friends by now with each other that we are above it for the most part."

"That's good," He said, pleased to see that this was the case with them. That had been his biggest fear going out on dates with each of them.

They then got back to dancing, stopping after a while as Susan was thirsty and went to go get a drink.

As he waited for her then Karen asked if she might get a dance with him, which he happily accepted.

As he danced with her she commented: "it seems your date with Susan is going well."

"Yeah, I'd like to think so at least," Harry agreed.

Karen seemed to think for a moment before admitting, "you know she really, really likes you Harry."

"I really, really like her too," He agreed.

"Don't think I didn't miss that kiss between you two," Karen observed with an amused smile.

He felt a bit worried and guilty as he said, "sorry."

"No need to be sorry Harry," She told him reassuringly, "it's nice seeing the two of you together."

He decided to explain, "well we aren't exactly together, just enjoying one date...and I am going on dates with other girls too."

Karen frowned at that as she admitted, "well you can't really blame me for hoping that Susan and you do end up together and get married, it really would be wonderful for you to be even more family than you are now."

He really wasn't sure how to reply to this. He would indeed consider himself lucky to be marrying Susan one day, but he felt like he was too young to be making such a decision, even with the obvious pressure that Karen was giving him.

She seemed to realize this as she confessed, "well maybe I shouldn't pressure you so much and just let things take its course."

"It's alright," He answered, even though he was still thinking about it.

At any rate, he left Karen then citing the desire to go dance with Amelia for at least one song as well, which he did after stealing her from Sirius.

As he danced with her he noticed that it didn't feel the same way that he felt dancing with Susan, but it was rather nice to dance with the two other Bones women that had become a big part of his life as well even if it did feel they were pressuring him a bit to end up with Susan. Amelia herself didn't say anything but he could tell she felt much the same way as her sister on the matter.

Soon after that Karen then asked if he and Susan were ready to go as it was getting late, which both of them agreed to as they were both quite tired by then.

Amelia and Sirius they noticed however did not accompany them back home as after dancing for quite awhile together had gone somewhere to be alone.

It did feel rather odd to see the two of them dating, considering how different they were from each other, Sirius a formerly convicted prisoner and Amelia the Head of Magical Law Enforcement but he supposed they both deserved to be happy if they made each other happy.

After arriving back home and deciding it would at least be a good idea to escort Susan to her bedroom.

"What is bothering you Harry?" Susan asked him.

"I'm fine," He tried to insist.

Susan put a hand on her hips and asked, "I know you better than that Harry, things were going quite well on our date up until near the end?"

He sighed and said, "it's just your mom kind of mentioned that she would like to see the two of us get married. I just don't think that I'm ready to make a decision like that, I'm not even really ready to commit to a girlfriend yet."

"Oh don't listen to mum," Susan reassured him, "of course she's going to want to see the two of us get married, she's our mum after all but she knows that we are simply too young for that, don't feel pressured by her. As for me, I really enjoyed our date and I'm looking forward to more dates sometime in the future, but I don't expect much out of them or of you. We should just have fun together for now."

He let out a deep sigh of relief as he managed a smile and said, "thank you Susan, you really are a wonderful girl."

She smiled back and he decided to brave giving her another quick kiss, which Susan happily accepted and caused both of them to blush.

It was another end to another successful date he thought.


	13. Attack on the Train

**Chapter 13**

**Attack on the Train**

**Harry**

When school started up again the following week, he and the girls boarded the Hogwarts Express together and he soon found himself sitting between Daphne and Padma.

He'd also gone on a date with each of them by now as well before the summer vacation ended and he felt like each of his dates with them had gone rather well.

He had first gone on a date with Daphne and while she tried hard to keep her feelings unreadable, he could tell that she was excited and after some time of trying hard he wore her down and she just relaxed and made no effort to disguise that she was enjoying their date.

She also had no problem being the one to initiate a kiss with him.

Padma was much more shy, but still very excited to be going on a date with him, and so he opted just to kiss her on the cheek, which still seemed to make her very happy.

"So when are you planning to go out with each of us again Harry?" Hermione bravely asked him.

"Yeah, I certainly had a good time and I'd like to again sometime," Padma admitted, blushing a bit.

"I don't know," Harry admitted having not been sure what to do having gone on one date with each of them, "whenever you girls want to I guess."

"I can make myself available almost anytime we're not in classes," Padma offered.

"I guess I could agree to let you go on another date with me sometime if you're lucky," Daphne added, giving him a wink.

"It would be quite fun to continue going on more dates with you," Susan agreed, "nothing too serious or too often of course."

"We would also need to work it into our studying schedule," Hermione concluded, "with the additions of Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures for each of us and even with opting not to take Muggle Studies or Divination we will have a full workload. I could plan out dates into our planners?"

"I'm sure that we can work it in," Susan said, 'besides we are quite far ahead by now anyway."

By now he would guesstimate that they were somewhere around the level of 5th year students by how far ahead they were both in their advanced classes and in their own personal studies.

"How about once a month for each of us?" Hermione suggested, which was quickly agreed to by each of them.

It meant he would then have 4 dates a month, which was quite reasonable. It was enough that it wouldn't feel like they were officially dating or anything, but enough that they could each get a date with him on a somewhat regular basis.

Each of the girls he was pleased to see seemed satisfied by this compromise.

They continued to work out the finer details for a moment before all of a sudden he felt the air around him get cold and it seemed like all the light was going out.

He felt absolutely miserable all of a sudden, like he'd never be cheerful again.

Then a hooded and dark figure glided down the train and stopped right in front of their compartment doorway.

A dementor! He realized, having read about them, but fortunately having never met one himself, and now that he had he definitely never wanted to again.

He reached for his wand, trying to remember the spell he was supposed to use against a dementor, but he felt his mind going blank as the creature seemed to be sucking all the happiness away from them.

The girls looked terrified, Padma even tried casting a spell at the dementor but it went right through it.

Harry knew only the right spell would be effective against it and he felt like the girls all knew that, but they too seemed to be having difficulty concentrating enough to think of the right spell.

Expecto Patronum, that was it! He realized.

Fighting against the dementor's predatory sucking away at his happiness and preventing him from concentrating on what to do, he managed to remember how to use the right spell as he thought of the girls and his recent dates with each of them as each of them were now a happy and treasured memory of his.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry declared, pointing his wand at the dementor.

He hadn't been expecting it to work so well as a big ball of white light erupted from his wand.

It wasn't a fully corporeal patronus but it got the job done as it chased after the dementor as the dementor let out a loud shriek as it fled.

Relief flooded him at managing to get the dementor to go away.

"Very good, whoever did that!" A man praised as he came up to them, accompanied by his own wolf patronus that he must have just cast.

"You saved us Harry," Padma observed, still looking shaken from the ordeal.

Each of the other girls also looked grateful, but also still recovering from the dementor.

"What is a dementor doing on the train?" Susan demanded angrily, "they are supposed to all be in Azkaban. No way Aunty would have let one loose on the train."

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," The man with the wolf patronus said, looking very upset himself, "by the way I'm Professor Lupin your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

He then rushed off to go check on all the other students on the train.

"Well he at least so far seems actually competent," Hermione observed, "that will be a welcome change at least considering the first two we've had."

"I'm still glad Harry thought of that spell," Padma pointed out, "I was trying to think of it myself, but I guess that is the difference between reading about a spell and actually thinking of and using it in a dangerous situation like that."

"Way to handle things under pressure," Hermione agreed.

"Yes, thank you Harry," Daphne agreed, "you get to be the hero again too."

"I'm no hero, I was just trying to do what I could to protect each of you, that's all," Harry argued.

"Which by its very definition is a hero," Hermione observed.

"Would you like a hero's reward Harry?" Padma asked, seeming nervous and blushing.

"I don't need a reward," Harry insisted.

Padma however decided otherwise as she leaned over next to him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

He was surprised by the action as both of them were now blushing, especially when Daphne clapped her hands and cheered a little.

Harry looked around to see the other girls' reactions but none of them seemed to mind that Padma had just kissed him.

"We're okay Harry," Susan reassured him, seeming to guess what he was worried about, "each of us has kissed you too by now remember?"

"I haven't, at least not on the lips," Hermione pointed out.

"Well what are you waiting for then, kiss him?" Daphne argued.

Hermione blushed before deciding Daphne was right as she got up from her seat and went and gave him a kiss on the lips as well.

He now had another very good memory to use in case another dementor showed up he thought.

"Crazy as it might sound, I think I might want the dementor to come back if this is what I get," Harry joked, causing them all to laugh.

"Just make sure the kiss isn't from the dementor," Daphne warned.

"No, I wouldn't want my soul sucked out, thank you very much," Harry agreed.

"I don't have a soul so it wouldn't be a problem for me," Daphne argued.

"You do too," Susan answered, tapping her lightly on the shoulder, "you're actually a very nice girl with a big heart even if you don't care to admit it."

"I couldn't be going around appearing soft though, it wouldn't be Slytherin like," Daphne countered.

By this point, Professor Lupin them came back, as he offered each of them chocolate.

"Trust me it helps if you are still feeling the effects of the dementor," Lupin told them.

Personally by now after getting kissed by both Padma and Hermione and then joking around with his friends, he was feeling very good indeed but still happily accepted the chocolate as did the girls.

"I managed to find out what the dementor was doing on the train," Professor Lupin informed them, "apparently Minister Fudge sent it as a means to check to see if Bellatrix Lestrange was on the train. My guess is after the whole Sirius Black debacle, he was trying to save face by showing that he was taking security seriously."

"It really only made him seem like more of an idiot," Susan declared, which surprised him a little.

Usually Susan was very nice to most people, but she clearly did not like Minister Fudge and frankly he had to agree with her of her assessment of Fudge.

"Amelia is definitely going to give him a good tongue lashing for that," Harry pointed out, causing Susan to nod as she certainly approved.

Whether Fudge was Amelia's boss or not, he doubted that that would stop her in this instance especially when she heard that they were involved.

"Fudge actually wanted to install dementors at the school as well I'm told," Lupin admitted, "but Amelia Bones wouldn't let him."

"Thank goodness for your Aunt, Susan," Padma said thankfully.

"Well if we do run into any dementors we'll have Harry to protect us, won't we?" Daphne said affectionately.

Personally while he certainly wouldn't mind more kisses from the girls, he hoped he wouldn't ever need to protect them like that again, even though something inside told him he definitely would on more than one occasion.

They however finished the rest of the train ride without further incident.


	14. Becoming Animagi

**Chapter 14**

**Becoming Animagi**

**Harry**

With school starting up they once again devoted themselves to their studies. They were according to most of the teachers essentially at the same level as 5th year students by now and could skip a couple grades if they wished, which they all declined, being in no hurry to finish their education.

He himself didn't want to lose getting to spend so much time with his friends and he was enjoying simply being a teenager.

That now included going on dates with the girls.

A schedule was soon made, with him going out with one of them every Friday night and was rotated out among the 4 of them. The way that things were worked out, he would then be going out on a date with each of them about once a month.

They didn't take anything too seriously although by the 2nd date with each of them, he was kissing all of them on the lips, just a quick kiss, but still caused his heart to melt a little each time he did it.

It really was a lot of fun for him and for the girls to be going out on dates and he was relieved to see that while they were telling each other about how their dates went, none of them seemed to be jealous of each other at least as far as he could tell and he was looking forward to many more dates with them in the future as were they with him.

That being said learning and studying magic was still the biggest priority for the study group, they were all very smart and magically powerful, but that didn't mean that they took anything for granted, they got where they were none because of an intense amount of studying and effort and none of them were about to slack off now.

One really exciting new challenge came to them shortly into the year.

Professor McGonagall at the beginning of her advanced class with them told them, "for 3rd years ordinarily this would be the year that students would learn about animagi. Normally this would mean that I would demonstrate how to transform as an animagi myself and then have you read up about other animagi, the process in becoming one, and then leaving it at that however I felt like you would all appreciate and be good enough students to enjoy a more 'hands-on' approach."

"You mean…?" Susan asked hopefully hardly daring to believe that she was serious, especially after begging Professor McGonagall several times last year and still getting a flat no.

Professor McGonagall couldn't help but grin and say, "that's right, I'm going to be teaching you how to be animagi yourselves."

Immediately all 5 of them grinned at that, eager to find out what animals they could become.

"I will warn you it is a rather long and arduous process to achieve but I feel that each of you have the qualities necessary to become rather good and more importantly responsible animagi," Professor McGonagall said putting emphasis on the word responsible and looking at them to make sure they knew she meant business if they misbehaved using their animagi forms.

They all immediately agreed and promised that they would be.

Seeming satisfied, Professor McGonagall got to work on having them get out their textbooks and study up on becoming animagi, but after asking them several questions, which any of them could answer, having already studied up on the subject extensively, Professor McGonagall just sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know why I bother anymore, as usual we can probably just skip to the practical part of the lesson and get started," Professor McGonagall said as she went over to her desk and pulled out a box of mandrake leaves.

"You'll need to keep these in your mouth for an entire month," She explained as she passed one out to each of them, "if you spit it out or accidentally swallow it you'll need to start all over."

Each of them were aware of this even though it was sure to be rather annoying to have to have a leaf in their mouths for an entire month or longer if they messed up.

As Harry placed his in his mouth he noticed that the leaf also tasted terrible. No wonder there were so few animagi out there when they had to keep this thing in their mouth for an entire month.

He did however enjoy the looks of disgust from the girls as they each put the leaves in their mouths.

"Ith tathed terrible," Susan tried to say, which was harder with the leaf on her tongue.

"It is probably best to keep it on either side of your mouth on your cheek," Professor McGonagall suggested, "keeping it on your tongue isn't particularly enjoyable as all of you have no doubt already found out."

"I sure hope that this is worth it and I don't turn out to be some cockroach or a spider or snake or something," Padma said as she pulled a face.

She at least seemed to have adjusted a bit better to having a leaf in her mouth.

"What's wrong with a snake?" Daphne asked, sounding slightly offended, "that's what I'm hoping for."

Hermione shook her head and said, "no a snake is definitely not for me, but good luck to you Daphne if you do get that.."

Professor McGonagall said, "well the animal you end up with tends to match your personality so I doubt any of you will get any animal you really don't like. After the month is up assuming you all still have your leaves in your mouth, I'll have Professor Slughorn help you use the leaves in the creation of the Animagus Potion, which should also be very difficult and time consuming to do. Then you will need to wait for a lightning storm to drink the potion and you'll have a vision of what animal you will become. If you have still decided to proceed after that I'll then help you with the process of learning how to transform and becoming animagi as well as help with registration with the Ministry once I'm satisfied that your training is complete."

Each of them nodded as they already knew all about this.

Professor McGonagall then set about explaining in greater detail what else they would need to do to become animagi and her own experience with the process.

After class however as they went over to the Great Hall for their lunch break, they all speculated about what animals each of them would become.

Hermione for herself guessed some sort of cat, Daphne a snake, and Susan an owl.

"I don't have any idea what I might end up becoming," Padma admitted, "I don't feel particularly connected to or really like any one animal."

"What about a cow?" Daphne suggested.

"Daphne!" Susan scolded her, "don't be mean."

"What, cows are considered sacred in India, it's a compliment," Daphne pointed out.

"I would hate to have to be milked every morning though," Padma said jokingly.

"I'll bet Harry here would be happy to milk you, wouldn't you Harry?" Daphne teased him.

He really wasn't sure what to say to that as he decided to instead make another suggestion as to what Padma might be..

"Maybe you'll be a unicorn?" Harry suggested to Padma.

"You can't transform into magical creatures though," Hermione reminded him.

"Ah, Professor McGonagall said no one ever has before, not that you theoretically couldn't," Susan pointed out, "wouldn't it be wonderful to be say a hippogriff?"

Hagrid had been promoted to Care of Magical Creatures Teacher and for their first lesson he had shown them hippogriffs, which turned out to be really cool and they even all got to ride them.

Hagrid was about to try and show them to the usual 3rd year class, but fortunately they convinced him not to as well as convinced him not to show several other much more dangerous animals to some of the older classes. Hagrid even was trying to get a manticore shipped in to show the 7th year students...yeah not a good idea.

They helped him make a more appropriate lesson plan for his classes and while Hagrid was a bit disappointed at the lack of anything terribly dangerous, at least his classes seemed to be going well as Hagrid had a vast knowledge of magical creatures and how to care for them.

"I wonder why nobody has ended up a magical creature before?" Padma asked, still thinking about being a unicorn, "you would think someone would have by now? Also yes I would love to be a unicorn but I don't think it is going to happen. I can see you as a unicorn though, Harry."

"A gorgeous unicorn no doubt," Susan said, blushing a bit as she thought of the idea.

He supposed he could see that, but he also felt like he ought to be an animal that should be able to fly. As for himself he had no idea what animal he related best with, but considering the way he felt in the air, he thought it ought to be something that could fly.

They continued to talk about which animals they would like to be and what was most likely for each of them all through lunch.

…

Over the next month, the study group became more and more eager to get the disgusting and bitter tasting mandrake leaves out of their mouth and find out what animals they could become.

When the month was up, they all quite happily spit the mandrake leaf into the Animagus Potion that they had each been brewing.

"Now we just have to wait for a lightning storm," Hermione observed, "which could take months unfortunately."

They would need to continue to recite an enchantment everyday until that time.

Fortunately it turned out they didn't have to wait that long as only a couple days later there was a good big lightning storm where they all went out to the top of the Astronomy tower to drink their potions.

Harry downed his potion as fast as he could as it tasted absolutely horrible, in fact it was so bad it made him wish he could instead have the mandrake leaf in his mouth for an entire month again instead.

At any rate, he managed to get it all down and waited.

For a moment nothing happened and then...he collapsed.

His head began spinning and his vision was getting all hazy as he lay there on the ground until his mind went blank.

…

**Hermione**

After downing the disgusting potion, Hermione's mind rushed over to where she saw herself now inside a huge savannah as she languished upon a tree branch.

She was however spread out on her belly as her tail whisked about.

Wait, tail?"

She looked back to see a tail flicking back and forth, which she realized with a start that it was her own tail she was somehow controlling.

She also noticed her spotted body and she immediately recognized what animal she was: a leopard.

She couldn't help but let out a cry of delight, but instead it came out a low growl.

Deciding to try out her new body in this dream-state, she managed to get off the tree branch and then...she took off at a run.

She couldn't help but feel overjoyed as she ran far faster than she normally could, it felt just so freeing as she bounded about with all 4 legs, her tail whipping behind her.

Then far sooner than she would have liked she came to, noticing that Susan, Padma, and Daphne were just now coming out of it as well while Harry still seemed to be out.

"I'm a Red Owl!" Susan exclaimed happily, "I got to experience being inside of a tree, flying around, and then look at myself in the moonlight over a lake. Ooh, I just love it and I'm so gorgeous!"

"I'm some sort of green snake," Daphne admitted, "it was kind of weird slithering about instead of walking but it seemed that I had no trouble adjusting to it."

"That should only be during your dream-state," Professor McGonagall explained, "you'll find it will be much harder learning to use your new animal bodies in training."

"What animal did you get Hermione?" Padma asked her.

"I'm a leopard," Hermione admitted happily.

Padma grinned widely and said, "ooh, I'm a big cat too, I'm a panther!"

Both of them couldn't resist giving each other high fives at that as Hermione grinned too, happy that Padma ended up with an animal so similar to her own. It would also help in giving each other pointers hopefully in transforming. The fact that Professor McGonagall was also a cat would also help them immensely in learning to transform.

"Us cats need to stick together," Padma told her.

"I'm glad each of you girls found out your animals and that you are pleased with the results," Professor McGonagall praised, looking particularly at Padma and Hermione as she had a bit of a bias towards cat animagi, being one herself.

"What about Harry though?" Susan asked worriedly as she noticed that he still seemed to be asleep.

"Wake up sleepy head," Daphne said before teasingly adding, "I just got naked for you."

"That ought to wake him up," Padma observed.

"Yes, if it were true and Harry somehow knew that," Hermione argued, "anyway we should probably just let him sleep until he wakes up on his own."

Professor McGonagall nodded and said, "it is indeed best not to disturb anyone in their dream-state. It can cause problems for them later on."

They each excitedly talked about their new animal forms they would be attempting to achieve to each other.

….

**Harry**

Meanwhile Harry felt like he was only just coming out of a dense fog...wait was it actually fog?

With quite a bit of surprise, he realized that he was actually inside of a cloud and looking through the bottom of the cloud, he could see land way down below him.

How was he so high up in the air he wondered?

He could however hear wings flapping...his wings.

He then let out a sound in confusion but it came out as a snort.

Now tilting his head back, he was shocked to see a shiny black horse's body but with massive black wings attached.

He was a Pegasus! A flying horse!

With complete surprise but also utter joy he flapped his wings harder, enjoying the sensation of feeling himself go higher up into the cloud before then swooping down as he went lower.

This was even better than riding a broomstick, he was the one able to fly himself and he enjoyed swooping and spinning in the air for a long while.

Finally however he felt himself coming out of it.

He opened his eyes, looking confused as to his surroundings.

"You okay Harry?" Susan asked him worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He reassured them.

"What animal did you end up getting?" Hermione asked him curiously.

He smiled and said, "I'm a Pegasus."

….

Being a Pegasus was a source of great interest to both him, the girls, and the Animagi community at large because he was in fact the first magical creature animagi that there had ever been. Well being magical wasn't exactly true, which might have something to do with it, he didn't have any particular special powers beyond the ability to fly or some heightened senses like each of the girls now had such as a keener sense of smell, which could be both good and bad depending on what they were smelling.

For other heightened senses, he noticed that he himself was now physically stronger and had far greater endurance and stamina than he had before. Hermione and Padma seemed to be faster and more agile even as humans, Daphne could now speak to snakes as well, something that she was excited and proud of rather than be ashamed of it, and Susan could now see in the dark.

They were however looking forward to what they could accomplish in their full animal forms even if it would take awhile and they each celebrated each small achievement, managing to get a claw or a talon or a hoof.

Now out of their dream state however, actually becoming animagi was proving a challenge, Professor McGonagall said it could take years before they were capable of reliably achieving a full transformation and they of course had other things to do besides working on it so progress was slow.

One particular subject that he found that he actually did excel at and enjoy was Defense Against the Dark Arts. He simply hadn't realized it until now as before this year they simply hadn't had a competent teacher, but their new teacher Professor Lupin soon proved to be more than capable as he covered many different potentially dangerous magical creatures and how to handle them.

In one particular lesson however he and each of the girls were faced with their greatest fears as they took on a boggart, a creature that took on the form of whoever the person they faced greatest fear was.

"You're afraid of clowns?" Padma couldn't help but laugh a little at Daphne as her boggart took on the form of a giant clown.

"What? They just freak me out is all," Daphne insisted in annoyance at having her greatest fear found out. At any rate she cast the Riddikulus spell and immediately the clown turned into a jack in a box.

"No less worse than my apparent fear of failure," Hermione noted of her own boggart's appearance of Professor McGonagall appearing to tell her that she had failed all of her classes.

Harry was next to take on the boggart and Professor Lupin seemed very reluctant to let him proceed.

"Perhaps we ought to end it now," Lupin suggested.

"What do you think my fear is going to be?" Harry asked, wondering why he was trying to stop him from proceeding.

"Lord Voldemort," Lupin admitted gravely.

Harry had admittedly thought of him, but he couldn't really be afraid of someone that he had never met, nor had any cause to worry about seeing again. He had been told that Voldemort may indeed be still out there, but he'd seen no evidence of this or that he was a real threat. Bellatrix Lestrange was still out there and she seemed scary, but she was still only just one witch and he hadn't met her either.

He had also thought of other things that might scare him, dementors for one. The one on the train had certainly been terrifying but it wasn't as scary when he had managed to use the Patronus Charm to chase it away.

He was however grateful that Amelia had put her foot down and insisted against Fudge's plan to put them into the school for protection against Bellatrix Lestrange. Still he just couldn't see dementors as his greatest fear.

"I actually have no idea what I'm most afraid of," Harry admitted.

At that Lupin reluctantly allowed him to face the boggart.

As the boggart took form in front of him, he was totally surprised at what he saw: he saw himself, curled up in a ball and in a corner and looking back at him with hopelessly lonely eyes.

The sight made him gasp in completely shock. This Harry looked even worse than he had been back in the Dursleys, alone and unwanted and unloved by everyone in the world.

It made him want to weep and cry.

Lupin looked surprised as he insisted, "fight it Harry, change it into something else."

There was a long pause as Harry fought within himself to try and change the image into something different, but it was hard for him as his mind couldn't help but harken back to the time not so long ago, his entire childhood really when he had felt this way growing up at the Dursleys.

He however felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You aren't alone anymore Harry," Hermione told him reassuringly, her own eyes filling with tears.

"You'll never be alone again," Susan agreed as she also took his other shoulder.

"We love you Harry," Padma added as she also joined in along with Daphne.

His heart bursting with gratitude for his friends and their support of him as he pointed his wand at the boggart and yelled, "riddikulus!"

The boggart's form immediately changed to many different forms of himself surrounded by all 4 of his friends, who were all looking at him with friendship and even love.

If the joyous moment or the fact that boggart was forced to assume so many different forms at the same time Harry couldn't be sure but it soon proved to be too much for it and it exploded into a million pieces.

Once it had, Harry couldn't resist moving for a group hug with all of the girls as he told them, "thanks girls, I'm so very lucky to have all of you, I don't know what I would do without you."

Hermione sighed as she told him, "we don't know what we would do without you Harry."

…

It being their 3rd year they were all now able to go on Hogsmeade trips and true to their word they made sure to stay together and in well populated areas.

Still Harry couldn't help but shake the feeling that they were being watched. He tried to shake that feeling as it seemed he was always being watched in public by at least somebody, his fame making him rather susceptible to that.

You could also argue that it wasn't even just him, the girls seemed to be attracting some attention from boys, not that he could blame anyone, they were very attractive after all.

Of course you could argue that he was biased, and even though he knew that there were of course better looking girls out there, at least to him, Hermione, Susan, Padma, and Daphne were the most attractive and beautiful girls in the whole world.

In truth he was actually making a lot of other boys jealous, especially since he was now going on dates with the girls, making him feel very lucky to be doing so.

The girls had also gotten even closer to him and more protective and caring of him ever since the boggart incident, he knew now without a doubt that his friends loved him and that would never change no matter what, maybe not romantic love just yet for any of them, but still love and that was very comforting to him.

Still this feeling of being watched was different somehow, like they were being hunted.

Protectively he had his wand out scanning for danger and focused on making sure each of the girls stayed safe.

"You sense or see danger Harry?" Susan asked him worriedly.

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't hurt to be safe than sorry," He noted.

Perhaps he was just being paranoid, but he figured it was better to be paranoid than dead.

With that, each of the girls got out their wands just in case as they moved through Hogsmeade.

They did however relax a bit as time went by and nothing happened as they went and had butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, bought some candy, and mostly just browsed around before returning to Hogwarts.

Thereafter he usually used any Hogsmeade weekends for his dates with the girls which only seemed to get better and better each time as they relaxed and simply enjoyed their dates.


	15. Sharing is Caring

**Chapter 15**

**Sharing is Caring**

**Hermione**

It was already getting late into the school year and Hermione was getting ready for yet another date with Harry.

"You're going out with Harry again?" Her dorm mate Lavender asked as if that was a bad thing.

"Yes," Hermione admitted as she studied herself in the mirror.

Both Lavender and Parvati looked at her jealously, both jealous of her incredible figure and her going on a date with Harry.

"I don't know what you, Padma, Susan, and Daphne are all playing at dating him all at the same time," Lavender argued as if they were stupid, "what are you doing forming some sort of harem or something?"

"No," Hermione insisted, "we're all just having fun that's all, we aren't going for anything more than that."

Both Lavender and Parvati looked at each other and said at the same time, "denial."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione argued.

"You're all totally in love with Harry that's what!" Lavender insisted, "and none of you are willing to admit it yet, but just you wait when you all finally do."

"You're just as bad as my sister Padma," Parvati agreed, "she's been in love with your Boy-who-lived for ages now. I mean to be fair he has gotten to be really cute and he's rich and famous."

"Still no way I would share him with 3 other girls like you are Hermione," Lavender said, "you okay being a polygamist Hermione?"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something but Lavender ignored her as she then added, "I guess I shouldn't really complain, this means all 4 of you will be off the market...and leaves all the other best looking boys for me."

Lavender grinned and adopted a seductive pose in her very revealing outfit.

"Yeah, that's certainly true," Parvati agreed with a grin of her own, "but just think how it's going to affect me if my twin sister becomes a polygamist, how it is going to look for me, and then any boy I might date might think I might be willing to do that too just because Padma is my twin."

"I'd be willing to have a threesome with you if you're willing to provide a good enough looking boy," Lavender offered.

"Yeah, maybe if you shared your future boyfriend in return," Parvati countered.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "you girls are ridiculous."

"Are we?" Lavender asked, "look at it from a researcher's perspective or whatever smart person perspective you usually take things."

Admittedly she had looked at it from that perspective, she just wasn't willing to admit it to Lavender and Parvati. Of course she knew that going on this many dates with Harry with all 4 of them girls only would make things harder for them long term, they couldn't possibly keep it just a fun casual thing forever, eventually they would all want more. She tried hard not to think about it but ultimately Harry would have to make a choice which of them he wanted most, they would fight over him which could unfortunately lead to the ending of their friendship with one another, or they would end up sharing him.

She didn't really want to become a polygamist but she felt that Susan, Padma, and Daphne all deserved Harry just as much as she did and she could never risk losing them as friends.

Could she really be okay with sharing a husband with 3 other girls then, even ones who were her close friends?

She would definitely have to find that out she concluded.

Still she wasn't willing to admit any of this to Lavender and Parvati so she instead deflected by saying, "actually you girls are right, what was I thinking sharing Harry with 3 other girls when as you already put it I am one of the best looking girls in our year and can have any other boy I want all to myself."

Both girls looked scandalized and worried now and she couldn't help but grin at catching them off guard like this.

"How about I start with the boys I know you like best?" Hermione suggested, "you've certainly talked enough about them for me to know which ones they are."

"You wouldn't dare!" Lavender argued.

"Why not?" Hermione answered slyly, "you afraid of a little competition Lavender?"

"No, not from you," Lavender argued, "I'm way better looking and more fashionable than the likes of you."

"You sure about that?" Hermione countered, "you sure any boy could resist this?"

She slapped a hand onto her best feature, her nice, big bum and then adopted as sexy of a pose as she could.

It wasn't like she was the most gorgeous girl on earth, but she was pleased to see that she was at least attractive enough for Lavender and Parvati to now consider her a threat.

She just smiled then and left their dorm room, having enjoyed messing with her dorm mates a little.

In truth, she had no intention of ever trying to go after any boy that Lavender or Parvati fancied, she'd never been interested in any of them, all of them were much too stupid and gross.

None of the other boys she had ever known held a candle to Harry, he was the one she was in love with and she couldn't imagine ever being with anyone else.

The realization of that hit her like a ton of bricks.

She loved Harry, this she had known for a long time but did she love him enough to share him with 3 other girls...to all date him, to all even marry him, to all have children with him, to carry the stigma of being a polygamist everywhere they went?

There were no easy answers to that, and while she could simply use the excuse they had all been using that they were still young and had plenty of time for things to work themselves out...her personality, the type that always had to plan everything out, to know everything and prepare for it as far in advance as she could, was forcing her to want to know for sure just what she was getting into and if it was what she really wanted.

Whether they knew it or not, Lavender and Parvati had given her a lot to think about and she decided that if she was going to find out whether or not she was okay with sharing Harry or not there was only one way to find out.

When Harry went and picked her up for their date, she suggested, "so I was thinking it might be fun to try going on a date with another girl as well at the same time?"

Harry looked a bit surprised as he asked, "are you sure?"

"Yes I think it would be fun," Hermione answered, trying to make it sound like not too big of a deal.

"Who exactly did you have in mind?" He asked.

"I was thinking maybe Padma," Hermione replied.

From her observations, she guessed that Padma would be the most open to sharing.

"Okay, if you want to," Harry replied.

They went to go find Padma, who when they did was surprised when they asked her to come with them, but still smiled and was happy to do so even if she fretted over what to wear.

"Sorry it was so last minute," Hermione apologized as she helped her friend get ready.

"No, it's fine, I'm glad that you asked," Padma said, "why did you want me to come with you though?"

"I just thought it would be fun to have another girl along," Hermione replied, again trying to make it seem like not too big of a deal.

Padma nodded and after quickly deciding on an outfit and putting it on, she asked Hermione, "this look okay?"

"You look beautiful Padma," Hermione said.

She had said this on purpose, of course she thought Padma was beautiful but she was also making sure she meant it and could understand and be okay with Harry thinking another girl was beautiful too.

She looked Padma up and down, clad in a simple red dress that still showed off her decent, average curves and flawless brown skin.

Yet what was truly Padma's defining feature was her very long shiny black hair that now went past her knees in length. She normally wore it in a plait, a braid, or in a bun while in school, but she usually wore it down for dates with Harry as she knew that he liked it.

Padma truly was beautiful she thought...and she could think that and admire her without being at all jealous.

It passed the test she set for herself and Padma said, "thanks you look beautiful too Hermione."

The two of them then headed off for their date with Harry.

Since this was a Hogsmeade visit, they headed out of the school, with Harry standing in the middle of them, holding hands with both of them.

Well this was a bit weird, but nice, Hermione concluded, having Harry hold hands with both her and Padma at the same time.

Yet another sign of so far so good.

The date went very well with all 3 of them laughing and having a good time as they went around Hogsmeade and then had lunch at The Three Broomsticks.

Still going well.

Yet the real test would be at the end, when Harry gave them their goodbye kisses. She had a few times when Harry was finishing a date with another girl and saw him kiss that girl but she wanted to be able to truly look at the experience and see how she felt about him doing that.

At the end of the date Harry seemed unsure just which of them he should kiss first.

"You can go first Padma," Hermione offered.

Padma smiled and happily accepted her quick kiss from Harry.

Hermione examined her feelings, she didn't feel any real feelings of jealousy or negativity, she found she was actually happy for the two of them.

Nor did she feel that it hurt her relationship with Harry either.

Still she had to know for sure as she invited, "you know you can kiss for longer if you want, I don't mind."

Both of them looked surprised why she would do that and so she quickly covered it up by saying, "I was just thinking I wanted a longer kiss with you Harry myself so I figured it was only fair if Padma got to as well."

"That sounds good to me," Padma easily agreed.

"Me too," Harry answered with a big grin on his face as both him and Padma came in for a longer kiss.

She wasn't sure just how long she was intending for them to kiss, nor were they, but given the opportunity and invitation, both Harry and Padma couldn't help but give in to temptation a little and make out for a bit, both of their lips moving and enjoying the sensation of the kiss.

Hermione once again examined her feelings and realized she again could only feel happy for them but also be excited and eager to try doing the same thing herself right after.

Finally the two of them broke apart with both of them blushing and looking a bit guilty.

"Sorry Hermione, I'm sure you didn't intend to see that," Harry answered.

"No, it's fine," Hermione replied before grinning and saying, "in fact I think I want some of that myself."

Harry grinned back and said, "sounds good to me."

At that, her and Harry came in and kissed each other, for the first time not a quick peck but deepening the kiss as their lips moved of their own accord.

Oh, yes, this was truly wonderful.

As she felt all the new sensations she was feeling as they continued to make out, she couldn't help but study herself and decide if having Harry was worth sharing him for...to share so much of her life not only with him, the boy that she had come to love with 3 others.

She would have to continue to examine her feelings and how things were going but for now...she was off to a good start in ultimately saying YES and I DO to the two most important questions of her life.

Once Harry and her broke away, they were both blushing as Harry said, 'well I had a great time with both of you today."

"Us too," Hermione replied.

"Maybe I can return the favor and have you go on my next date with Harry?" Padma offered.

Hermione was surprised but said, "that would be great, but only if you want to."

Harry however just gave them a goodbye smile and seemed to decide to let them work that out whether they wanted to or not as he then left.

With only her and Padma now around Padma then took the opportunity to ask, "you trying to find out whether you are okay sharing Harry as a boyfriend or not?"

Deciding there would be no point in denying it, Hermione answered, "yes, guess you figured me out huh?"

"Yeah, that's exactly how I would have done it too," Padma replied as she sighed and said, "I suppose that it's going to inevitably happen regardless, it's even started already whether we care to admit it or not. Still I am curious to see what your findings were?"

"I think I would be okay with it," Hermione concluded, "I think I could be happy sharing Harry like that. I'll continue to see how things go but for now...I'd be willing. What about you?"

"Well once I realized what angle you were going for I tried to do the same thing," Padma answered, "and I kind of feel the same way as you. I'd be willing to share him, at least with you Hermione and probably Susan and Daphne as well."

Hermione nodded as the two of them stood there in silence, contemplating their own individual and complex feelings.

….

When they decided to talk about how their "double date" went, Susan and Daphne quickly deduced what they were up to as well.

Hermione shook her head, there really was no hiding anything among each other.

Susan sighed and said, "well I suppose this should probably happen eventually if we're going to figure out if we can make this work or not."

"I think I could still just steal Harry away from all of you though," Daphne argued with a sly smile.

Hermione smiled back, well used to Daphne and said, "more like I could steal Harry away from you."

"Is that a challenge?" Daphne asked.

"Come on, you girls know we aren't going to go that route, we're all too nice for that," Susan argued, "we'll however need to decide whether we are all willing to share him or not. That decision needs to be made individually and each of us should decide for ourselves whether we are willing to do that and accept everything that goes with it."

"I don't care what people say about me," Daphne insisted.

"Yes you do," Padma warned.

"Well maybe a little," Daphne was forced to admit, "but really wouldn't we just tire poor Harry out when we gang up on him? Also don't even say the words schedule or calendar...if I'm going to have sex I'm going to do it when I feel like it."

"One of us could take polyjuice potion so we look like Harry?" Padma suggested, "then there would be 2 Harrys, one for each of the two remaining girls."

"If I'm going to do that, I might as well just make myself bisexual," Daphne argued.

"You can't just make yourself bisexual," Hermione argued.

"If you know where to go you can get a potion for anything," Daphne argued, "just think it would actually solve all our problems if we were attracted to each other, we would always have plenty of sexy partners to keep us busy, and I'm sure Harry would just love watching us do it with each other."

"I don't think we need to go to such an extreme," Hermione answered.

"What's wrong Hermione?" Daphne teased her, "something wrong with a girl being with another girl?"

"Well no," Hermione replied, "in fact I have a cousin that-"

Daphne however continued to tease her as she got closer and said, "how would you feel if I said I thought you were very attractive...what if I said I wanted you-"

Daphne placed an arm around Hermione and grinned seductively.

"Daphne, leave her alone," Susan warned, "I think we can figure things out without having to resort to changing our sexual preferences."

"I'd be willing to take such a potion," Padma meekly answered, "if it was the only way I could have Harry. Or maybe if I can't have him, take a potion to take away all my feelings for him."

That seemed to sober them all up.

"I don't think we need to go to that extreme," Hermione insisted, "we'll just have to look at things objectively and scientifically, we can make a plan to-"

"Or we can all just snog Harry senseless until we get used to seeing each other at it, then move on to other more fun and interesting things," Daphne replied.

"Ooh, I do like that idea," Padma was forced to admit.

"We shouldn't be so hasty," Hermione replied, "we haven't even decided that we are going to do this and we should take things more slowly and rationally."

"I agree," Susan answered, "if we do this wrong it could only lead to hurt feelings and possibly lost friendships and I don't want to lose any of you as friends, I love each of you too much for that."

"We love you too Susan," Daphne said, "sorry you're right, we shouldn't jump into anything too quickly and we probably should spend some time deciding if this what each of us really want before we tell Harry anything although if he is as smart as any of us, he'll figure it out, but I don't think he'll actually ask us if his suspicions are correct and just let us work it out ourselves."

Each of them seemed to think for a moment before Susan suggested, "well what we can do for now is have more double dates and get used to sharing Harry on a date. Since it is my turn next for this last Hogsmeade visit before the school ends I think it would be fitting then for you to accompany me Daphne on it."

Daphne grinned and said, "I would be happy to...if you think Harry can handle both of us."

"Well if he can't we should probably find out now," Susan answered.


	16. Surviving Killing Curses

**Chapter 16**

**Surviving a Killing Curse**

**Harry**

The girls were up to something, he didn't know for certain just what yet, but he had some suspicions, and if his suspicions were correct, it only made him more nervous.

It seemed all of a sudden the girls were sharing their dates, with Hermione sharing her date with Padma and Susan sharing her date with Daphne.

You could argue that they were just simply using a strategy, sharing dates with each other, meant more dates with him assuming that both Padma and and Daphne reciprocated by sharing their dates with him later on.

Yet the way they were suddenly studying him, it was like this was some grand experiment and he was the main focus of it and the thought had struck him what they were really up to.

They were trying to decide if they wanted and were willing to share him or not...and that fact made him both excited but also nervous if he managed to mess it up.

Quite honestly getting 4 of the best looking girls ever in his opinion to be his girlfriends all at the same time would be a dream come true for him, honestly it would be for any guy...but he felt the need to go through superhuman efforts in order to achieve it.

So when it came to his date with Susan and Daphne, he pulled out all the stops: reservations at the fanciest restaurant in Hogsmeade, getting brand new fancy dress robes, buying flowers and chocolates and stuffed animals for both of them, it was like Valentine's day supercharged.

Both girls smiled when he picked them up for their date and as he gave them all their presents but Susan said, "you really don't need to go to so much trouble on our account Harry."

"No, but I want to, you're both such special girls," Harry argued.

"Yes, but this is way too much," Susan insisted.

"Oh, don't turn down presents," Daphne scolded her, "Harry if you want to spoil me go right ahead."

"No, we shouldn't leave Harry feeling obligated like he needs to go all out like this all the time," Susan pointed out, "I really do appreciate it Harry but don't feel like you need to."

"You're right of course Susan," Daphne answered grudgingly, "though if you want to spoil me every once in awhile that would certainly be nice and appreciated...and I'm sure I could find a way to make it worth it to you."

She gave him a wink at that.

Harry sighed and said, "I don't know I just...felt like I should...and I don't expect anything in return."

Both girls studied him for a long moment before Susan then suggested, "come on let's go put all this stuff away and then go have some fun."

"Sounds good to me," Harry answered, feeling a bit relieved.

…..

Once they had and actually set out on their date, he tried to relax and just enjoy himself even though he still felt like he was being watched.

That being said, in Hogsmeade that feeling only intensified, he'd felt like that every time he came in here, but despite his paranoia nothing had ever happened and he tried to just pass it off as merely his celebrity status as the boy-who-lived getting him plenty of attention from the local villagers, which was certainly the case. They had gotten more used to seeing him after each of them stopping at least once to thank him or get his autograph or something over this year, but still he felt a certain degree of unease.

As they sat sitting down eating lunch in the fancy restaurant he had made reservations for, Harry realized with a start that they were in fact the only students in the restaurant.

Not surprising though he rationalized, it was a fancy restaurant and most students couldn't afford a place like this.

In fact there were only a couple other tables in the restaurant, again not surprising as it was lunchtime and a rather exclusive restaurant.

Yet soon both of those left as well, having finished their meal and paid, leaving the 3 of them alone.

"I guess we have the place to ourselves now," Daphne said sounding satisfied as she pushed her chair back and spread out her legs.

"My Aunt asked us to stay where there are lots of people though," Susan said with a frown.

He supposed she really did have a point, although he didn't want to just immediately leave just because of that. He had made reservations-

It suddenly occurred to him that that meant that at least the restaurant had known he was coming in advance which meant-

A cold feeling washed over him, a feeling he would recognize anywhere.

A dementor.

Make that dementors, he realized with a sickening feeling as he saw no less than a dozen dementors glide into the empty restaurant, coming straight at them.

He, Susan, and Daphne all immediately had their wands out, they had practiced the Patronus Charm this year with Professor Lupin so they felt confident they could handle this.

"Expecto Patronum!" All 3 of them said aloud as their patroni burst out of their wands.

Their Patroni matched their animagi forms, with Susan's being an owl, Daphne's a snake, and his a Pegasus and they rushed the dementors, which fled in panic.

Yet just as they were busy taking care of the dementors, all of a sudden their wands were suddenly and magically stripped from them.

Harry whirled around to see several restaurant staff standing there with glazed over expressions.

Imperioused Harry realized.

Yet each of the various witches and wizards that were there just looked at them with listless eyes, poised to attack but chose not to for some reason.

Yet then a woman from anyone's nightmares calmly entered the restaurant her black cloak billowing behind her, her curly black hair a mess and her red eyes giving her a crazed and evil look as she looked at each of them with satisfaction.

"Keep your wands trained on them but don't attack until I give the signal, I want to talk to them first," She told her small army of mental slaves.

"Bellatrix," Susan exclaimed, trying her best to look brave and determined against her.

This was the woman who had killed some of her family members as well as killed and tortured countless others. Susan had every right to fear and hate her.

"Well I finally got you," Bellatrix declared with a triumphant look on her face, "the famous boy-who-lived and his girlfriends...my my you certainly have been busy not wasting what life you very luckily got from my master Potter. Fame apparently does get you everything. Too bad your time has run out, but don't worry I'll take good care of your little girlfriends for you. These will all make excellent sex slaves and child bearers for the Death Eaters."

"Don't you dare touch them," Harry warned bravely at her even though he didn't have a wand to use against her.

Bellatrix however did not seem at all concerned as her eyes settled on Susan, still looking at her defiantly, "ah you must be Susan then, yes...I knew a lot of your family, killed many of them myself, the Bones family really was such a delight to torture and kill, so brave and yet so foolish as they all died."

"You'll pay for their deaths," Susan insisted bravely, not having a wand either but managing to somehow conjure a spell from her hand and use it against Bellatrix.

Wandless magic was incredibly difficult and unpredictable, usually only conjured in times of great emotional distress as Susan no doubt was.

Bellatrix however effortlessly waved her wand and dissipated the spell.

"Now, now that is no way to behave in a restaurant, you might get kicked out," Bellatrix said, laughing a little at her own joke, "you'll get a chance to bravely fight until the end where I torture you and either force you to obey my will or kill you but I said I wanted to talk to you first and even give you a chance to save yourselves if you help me."

"We'll never help you," Harry insisted.

Bellatrix's eyes widened as she said coldly, "what gives you the right to even talk to me you filthy boy? I'll particularly enjoy torturing you...to pay you back for everything you did to my master!"

"What do you want?" Daphne decided to ask.

Bellatrix grinned and said, "at least someone here can be a bit reasonable, now we get to the matter at hand. I want to know where my master is...and I know that you've got a clue as to his whereabouts."

"What clue? We haven't found any clue," Susan told her, "you're absolutely mad."

Bellatrix laughed, a malicious, evil sounding laugh as she said, "mad yes, I suppose I am but I'm also not stupid, I learned from Lucius Malfoy while I was in prison that he so foolishly gave my master's diary to one of you and I want it back."

Harry realized with a start that the diary she was referring to was the one Padma had gotten. His mouth dropped open as he made the connection. That was Voldemort's diary?

Yet he wasn't about to admit to her the fact that Dumbledore had apparently destroyed it.

However just as he thought this, his mind was suddenly hit by a mental barrage. He hadn't received any training in the mental arts or Occlumency so unfortunately he was rather poorly able to defend himself.

Bellatrix let out a howl of rage as she yelled, "you destroyed it! My master's diary is gone!"

Daphne couldn't help but smile as she said, "that's right, it's gone, you'll never get your master back now."

Harry was sure that probably wasn't the case unfortunately, but Daphne couldn't resist rubbing it in Bellatrix's face.

Bellatrix however let out another laugh as she said, "you really think that was the only way to find and bring my master back? It certainly would have helped but I'll find another way it will just take longer. At least I'll have the consolation prize of being able to tell my master when I find him that I personally killed the one responsible for his downfall."

Bellatrix raised her wand and pointed it straight at him.

Still sitting there at the booth of the restaurant, he knew there simply wasn't time to try and dodge her spell and even if he could, he'd only be then attacked by all of Bellatrix mind slaves and Bellatrix spell would also only then hit one of the girls sitting next to him.

She however at the last moment decided against it and said, "no, I think I'll save you for last, better for you to have to suffer in seeing the deaths of your girlfriends first. So which should it be...the Bones girl or...yes I thought so..you're a Greengrass, which makes you a blood traitor, mmm, this certainly is a tough choice."

Finally Bellatrix pointed her wand at Susan, choosing her to be the first to go.

"Avada Kedavra," Bellatrix yelled as a green light erupted from her wand.

Without even thinking, he pushed Susan away, causing the spell to instead hit him.

As the green light enveloped him however an odd calm hit him. He would at least get to be with his parents.

Yet still there was so much that he would miss out on in life: getting married, having a family, and he thought in his last moments of the women in his life that he loved: Susan, Daphne, Hermione, Padma, and even Amelia and Karen as his adopted mothers.

Just as he thought of how much he loved them however in his seeming final moment however… a strength welled up inside him.

He could still feel that presence of death trying to kill him, trying to rip his soul from his body, but he also felt several other presences: one seemed to be truly evil and dark, seeming to be struggling to try and survive his impending death...and the other two?

"Hold on Harry we aren't losing you!" He heard Susan say, "I love you too much for that!"

He could practically feel her anguish and fear for him, but also her determination to save him and how much she loved him.

"It isn't going to end like this!" He heard Daphne say as he also felt her presence inside him, trying to fight off the darkness. He could feel her love for him just as strongly as Susan's.

They might have had enough in them to repel it with their combined might, they might have...but then Bellatrix cast another Killing Curse at him…

It was too strong he thought, this would kill all 3 of them, the only way the two girls would survive is if he took the full blast and just succumbed to death.

"No Harry!" Susan insisted, "we'll save you!"

Yet it was the only way, he couldn't bear it if they died for him even though they seemed entirely willing to. He started to give in…

"Don't give up Harry!" He heard Hermione say.

Hermione wasn't even here and yet somehow she had known he was in trouble and was somehow working to save him.

"We've got this Harry," He felt Padma say.

With the combined might of him and all 4 girls, they managed to finally repel the darkness and something dark and evil that had been lurking deep inside him was destroyed in the process.

There was an explosion...and he remembered no more.


	17. Explanations and Connections

**Chapter 17**

**Explanations and Connections**

When Harry finally awoke, he awoke to find himself lying in the hospital wing.

As he looked around, he noticed that all 4 of his best friends were lying in beds around him, although they each seemed to be waking up at the same time he was.

"What happened?" Padma asked, "last thing I remember I was in the library and then...I just felt like you really needed me Harry."

"Me too," Hermione admitted, "it felt like if I didn't help you...you were going to die."

"Bellatrix attacked us," Susan explained, "then she tried to kill me with a killing curse but Harry pushed me out of the way and it hit him instead and-"

They all seemed to be trying to piece together just what happened.

"I felt like all of you were connected to me, helping to try and save me," Harry admitted, "I don't know how or why but I know that if it wasn't for each of you...I would be dead right now."

He felt an immense amount of gratitude to each of them and he swore they could somehow feel just a bit of that gratitude.

"Well whatever it was," Daphne observed, "it looks like we saved you for a change Harry."

She managed to get small laughs out of each of the other girls.

"Let me guess you are expecting some sort of reward?" He asked.

"Obviously, but I'm sure you won't mind," Daphne answered as she got up from her bed and went and sat down on his bed next to him.

Guessing just what she wanted, he leaned forward and kissed her, which she eagerly returned.

It was indeed a really good kiss as he felt particularly connected and grateful to her for helping to save his life.

He found himself responding to the kiss as they continued to make out on the bed.

Finally however they broke apart and he felt guilty as he looked at the other girls for having made out with Daphne right in front of them.

"It's alright Harry, we don't mind," Susan reassured him, "please feel free whenever you'd like."

He was still unsure how they were so okay with him doing such things in front of each other, but looking around, he noticed that neither Hermione or Padma seemed to mind either.

At that moment, Madame Pomfrey came in and noticed that they were all awake as she went and checked them over.

"How long have we been out?" Padma asked her.

"A week," Madame Pomfrey admitted.

"A week!" Each of them exclaimed in surprise.

"We're going to be so behind in our studies!" Hermione complained worriedly.

"Each of you were suffering from magical exhaustion so whatever you did took an enormous toll," Madame Pomfrey said, "of course surviving two killing curses in a row kind of explains that."

"Do you know just what happened then?" Susan asked her.

Madame Pomfrey shook her head and admitted, "only a little, I think it would probably be best if Professor Dumbledore explained it to you when he gets here."

She wouldn't explain any further but continued to check on them until telling them that they would be fine although she did recommend that they stay here for at least a couple more days to try and recuperate while she monitored them just in case, something that Hermione was worried about as it would put them further behind.

However then Professor Dumbledore showed up and after asking them just what had happened to each of them and with them explaining everything that had transpired, Dumbledore was then immediately bombarded with questions as to if he could then in turn explain what had happened to them.

Instead of answering any of them however he first asked them a question in return: "how familiar are you with love magic?"

"Not very," Hermione admitted, "it is truly a fascinating subject but there aren't a lot of books written about it."

"Which is unsurprising as it is very difficult to explain," Dumbledore replied, "I myself have tried studying it along with talking with people that have used it, but had little success in being able to understand it fully. However what happened with each of you, I believe I have a good idea now. When Harry pushed Susan out of the way of Bellatrix's killing curse, he did so out of love for Susan and a desire to save her, even at the cost of his own life.

Ordinarily killing curses kill instantly, but since this was a supreme act of love and sacrifice, it caused an unintentional use of love magic. It afforded Harry here some protection from the Killing Curse, but that alone would not have been enough to save him. However his magic and his consciousness reached out to find help and found it in both Susan and Daphne who loved him enough to risk their own lives and try to save him, using up their own energy and magical power to do so.

Then the second killing curse hit which could have overwhelmed even all 3 of you as weakened as you were by then, but then Harry reached out again to those that truly loved him and found help from both Padma and Hermione. Despite being so far away and not knowing what the danger was, the two of you still could somehow sense that Harry's life was in danger and you did everything you could to try and save him."

"So our love for Harry manifested itself into some sort of love magic that helped protect him?" Hermione observed.

"Correct," Dumbledore answered, seeming pleased they were still following him so far, "it could only be achieved if you each of you had truly loved him and were willing to give your lives for him. That was enough to form a very strong connection with him and with each other to try and save him."

Susan decided to then ask, not seeming to be at all upset by the idea, "so does that mean we're bonded to Harry now?"

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "yes I suppose it does, but keep in mind that each of us humans are connected and bonded to each other, however small. The closer one is to another individual, the stronger that their bond is to that other person. These types of bonds and connections can manifest in many different ways, such as one with a close friend, with a lover, with a sibling, or a parent. Your bond and connection with Harry just happened to manifest itself very closely and strongly in a moment of great need but that bond and connection always existed whether you knew it or not. That being said however, because you just shared such a strong and powerful connection, however brief in a moment of great need already, you may feel more closely connected from now on, and if allowed to be nurtured, can grow even stronger with time, both with Harry and each other. There is however no telling just what that could end up becoming or mean for each of you."

"I would like being closer to you Harry.," Padma said, seeming to like the idea of being more connected with him.

All 3 of the other girls seemed to like that idea too as did he. He wasn't exactly sure just what that meant, but it was rather nice to think of getting even closer to them than he was.

He did however have one other pressing question on his mind though as he asked, "I felt like something really evil was inside me that wasn't part of Bellatrix spell. I felt like it got destroyed when we rebuffed the killing curses though."

Dumbledore looked gravely at him as he admitted, "it seems that unintentionally when Voldemort tried to kill you as a baby, he left something behind, a piece of him that dwelled inside of you undetected. It is much the same as what happened with his diary that you found and I destroyed."

"He left a piece of himself inside me?" Harry asked in alarm.

"Unintentionally yes," Dumbledore answered gravely, "which could have indeed caused you a lot of problems Harry, but it seems that your act of sacrifice and love combined with the love and power that you got from your friends also resulted in it being destroyed. I examined you myself while you were out and you need fear no more of that.

With all of this information about bonds and connections and a piece of Voldemort inside him, what had happened to Bellatrix had slipped their minds until now.

When he asked Dumbledore however, Dumbledore admitted, "I don't know, it seemed that when you repelled her spells it went and hit her instead. Such power could have easily killed her, but we never found her body, and I fear we may not have seen the last of her."

"If she is alive, we'll be the ones to catch her by surprise," Susan insisted.

Dumbledore chuckled and said, "yes, I think you've proven by now that each of you are quite capable and full of surprises even in the worst of circumstances."

…

**Hermione**

They stayed in the hospital wing for a couple more days at Madame Pomfrey's insistence, which was only bearable just lying around all day because they had each other to keep their minds occupied.

She also did finally manage to succeed in getting Madame Pomfrey to let them study their course books but only after agreeing not to try and use any magic themselves yet.

As for herself, she was indeed feeling more connected to Harry and to the other girls too. It was also nice to know that she apparently loved Harry that much as did the other girls which made it easier for her to suggest as they finished up their stay in the hospital wing, something she had been thinking about for awhile, but felt it even more obvious that was what should happen as she had had plenty of time to lie around and think about it.

"I think we should move forward in our relationship with you Harry," Hermione announced.

That certainly got everyone's attention as they processed in their minds just what she was suggesting.

"Look it is obvious that we each love you very much Harry and I for one want my relationship to be something more than just friends or kissing friends or whatever we were before. I'd like to be your girlfriend Harry...and I don't mind sharing you either with the rest of you.."

Each of the other girls seemed to ponder this, but it was clear each of them had given this a lot of thought as well.

"I would like that as well," Padma agreed.

"Me too," Susan answered as well.

"Obviously you can't leave me out," Daphne replied as well, "someone has to keep the rest of you in line."

"There won't be any need for that even if I know you are just joking," Hermione answered, "look I think it is probably best to let our own personal relationships with Harry be left up to us each individually, we're each going to be dating him and be sharing him, but we can't just worry endlessly about how each of us is going to feel whenever we do anything. Harry if you want to snog Padma senseless, then you shouldn't feel guilty about how I'm going to react or feel, I'm okay with it as I would expect any of you to be okay with me doing the same. When we progress further to doing more things, it should be decided between you Harry and the girl involved. However we shouldn't feel pressured to do anything we aren't ready for just because someone else has already done that with you."

Each of them seemed to digest this as Susan first agreed by saying, "well I think that you're probably right Hermione about that. If we are going to do this, we can't be jealous of each other or feel like it is a competition, each of us as just as much right and just as much of a claim over Harry as any other."

"So does this make us all Harry's girlfriends now?" Padma asked hopefully.

"It does only if you want it to be?" Harry asked.

"Of course I do Harry," Padma immediately answered brightly, smiling wide at him.

To celebrate she decided to go over and kiss him.

Harry certainly looked very pleased by this result, Hermione thought with an amused smile as he well should be at now getting 4 very attractive girlfriends.

Daphne however decided to admit, "well I should probably warn you I'm going to be ready for stuff probably sooner than the rest of you."

"That is fine," Hermione said, "just as long as Harry is ready for it too."

With that out of the way and each of them now officially his girlfriends, they celebrated by taking turns in having some very long kisses with him.


	18. Girlfriends and More

**Chapter 18**

**Girlfriends and More**

**Harry**

The fact that Harry was now officially dating 4 different attractive girls at the same time was of great interest to a lot of people. Nobody was however at all surprised, having seen it coming for quite a long time.

He did however get a lot of congratulations from various guys, in particular the Weasley Twins who now considered him the coolest guy ever and asked him for tips on how they could do it too. All of his Gryffindor dorm mates were now asking for tips as well and any other guy in the school now considered him some sort of stud.

Either that or they were just extremely jealous of him, which he had to admit he couldn't blame them for being, he knew very well just how lucky he was.

That being said, he did feel very sorry for his 4 new girlfriends as they had had it much worse than he did, as some other girls wondered just why they would stoop so low as to all share just one boyfriend.

The girls however just tried to ignore them, recognizing who their true friends were and tried not to care about what anyone else thought. For the most part anyway, contrary to his fears, most people were rather accepting of their rather unusual relationship, polygamy was quite uncommon in the wizarding world, but not nearly as much in the Muggle world and it did happen.

Still he felt guilty that they would receive any negative treatment whatsoever, but the girls were adamant about not letting him worry about them. They were happy with him, all of them, and while their relationship was quite unusual and would take some getting used to both for them and for everybody else, things would work out.

Fortunately there were only 2 weeks left in the school year when he officially started dating the girls so they didn't have to deal with the negative gossip about them for too long and when they came back from school months later, the gossip about them would likely die down quite a bit anyway.

If he had hoped however that things would be better over the summer, he was sorely mistaken as he then had to deal with the parents.

Padma's parents were probably the easiest as they had kind of seen it coming already and reluctantly just accepted that it was going to happen whether they liked it or not.

Hermione's parents were much more difficult as they came from a Muggle background, which was even less accepting than wizards when it came to polygamy. Not for the first time with all the dangerous things that had happened to them at school and would have led to them trying to withdraw her from Hogwarts if they ever found out, Hermione had decided it would be best to keep some information from them.

She had however told her parents that her and Harry were dating, but chose not to include the information that he was also dating 3 other girls.

He had still gotten threatened by Hermione's father until her mother had to finally pull him away, but he had survived the encounter and Hermione's mother seemed to like him at least.

Susan's mother and Aunt however he was much more terrified of, since he actually lived with them and considered them family.

They had however considered it quite wonderful that he and Susan were now officially dating and had long since accepted that he would likely end up dating his 3 other best friends as well.

He was however still threatened with death if he ever hurt Susan or any of the girls and he realized then just how scary and intimidating Amelia could be.

Probably the most interesting conversation about the whole thing was with Sirius, who was still dating Amelia and he saw nearly everyday, mostly in passing as Sirius went to go pick up Amelia for a date but also to spend time with him as his godfather.

Harry was still getting used to the idea of having a godfather be part of his life, but he was willing to give Sirius a chance as Sirius was able to share plenty of great stories about his parents which he was very grateful for.

One day however Sirius pulled him aside to say, "So Harry I think it proper that somebody should give you the talk about the birds and bees."

Harry's eyes widened as he questioned, "you mean?"

"Yes, Harry I'm talking about sex," Sirius confirmed with an amused smile at seeing his reaction, "now Amelia was thinking about having this rather unpleasant conversation with you herself but I convinced her that it should probably come from another guy if possible."

"Thank you for that," Harry said, fearing that potential conversation with Amelia he had just avoided.

He was pretty sure that Amelia wouldn't want him going anywhere beyond kissing until he was 25, but as for himself well...he wasn't sure but considering how close he already felt with the girls and loved them well...he definitely feel ready to go all the way, but he was however considering doing at least a little more than kissing sometime in the future.

Sirius laughed a little as he guessed just what he might be thinking about.

"I'm sure you'll know when the right time is for you," He told him, "I myself lost my virginity at your age, but I'm guessing you aren't ready for that. Still whenever it happens, it is best for you to be prepared and can do so responsibly which is why I'm here. Now if it was Amelia or one of your actual parents, they would be telling you all about where babies come from, telling you not to have sex until you are legally an adult or perhaps after you are married, and then leave it at that."

Harry blushed as he admitted, "well I already know where babies come from...and I don't know when I'll have sex, I don't know if I can promise I can wait until I'm married but-"

Sirius however waived him off as he said, "nor do I expect you to, unfortunately many parents do just try to keep their children abstinent, which unfortunately all too often leads to the child rebelling, having sex early, and not doing it correctly, leading to pain for both them and their partner, and sometimes leads to unplanned pregnancies because they didn't know how to use or obtain protection. I'd like to avoid all that so whenever you do decide that you are ready, you will be prepared."

Harry nodded, unsure what to say as he stood there awkwardly. It would however be good information for future use he supposed.

"Now then," Sirius said, seeming to be still enjoying his reaction, "let's start with a little something called the clitoris."

By the time Harry finally was able to finish his very awkward conversation with Sirius, he had learned much more about sex than he had ever wanted to know or wondered about, this was one subject there hadn't been any books about in Hogwarts or if there were he'd never gone looking for.

It was rather good future knowledge even though he wasn't sure just when he would be using it, but having Sirius explain in such great detail was rather unsettling.

At any rate, he survived the conversation with Sirius...barely, and he was still trying to shake his head, feeling like his mind was very dirty at the moment.

He decided he definitely wasn't ready for...all of that, but he wouldn't say no to at least a bit more than just kissing.

…..

That night however, he was just finishing up a date with Daphne (during the summer he was going on dates with one or more or all of his girlfriends every night) and they were making out when he felt a hand on his butt.

"Sorry, got kind of carried away," Daphne apologized as she pulled her hand away, "really nice bum though."

"It's okay and thanks," Harry told her.

"I just wasn't sure if you were ready for something like that or not," Daphne admitted.

Daphne he knew was more ready for other things than the other girls and they were okay with that, but she couldn't be sure that he was ready for more too.

"Thanks for thinking of me but I'm okay," Harry answered before thinking about it for a moment and saying, "you can touch my bum if you want."

Daphne grinned and said, "then I would love to and...you can touch my bum if you want too."

"I would love to do that," Harry agreed, "and you've got a really nice bum too."

"Thanks Harry," Daphne told him as she went over and grasped his bum again, "ooh goodness you don't know how many times I've wanted to do that."

He reached around and grasped her bum and told her, "you have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that."

They both laughed a little at each other as Daphne then asked, "so how was it?"

"Your bum? Incredible and perfect just like you," He told her.

In truth, Hermione actually had the biggest and best bum out of all 4 of his girlfriends, but Daphne's was really nice too, and she very attractive all around.

Daphne however pulled a face and said, "perfect definitely not, I wouldn't want to be perfect...I like to be a bit naughty."

"Naughty? What does that mean?" He asked her with amusement.

"Oh, let me show you," Daphne told him as she leaned in and kissed him again while grasping his bum.

He eagerly responded by making out with her and grabbing her bum in return.

Well this certainly was very nice he thought.

After making out and feeling up each other's bums for several minutes they finally broke apart.

"Mmm, so glad you're my girlfriend now," Harry told her.

"Me too," She agreed as she smiled at him.

They looked at each for a long moment before a thought then occurred to him as he asked, "well I've already had to have some rather unpleasant conversations with Susan's, Hermione's, and Padma's parents, but I don't think I've heard anything about yours. How do they feel about us dating?"

Daphne's eyes flashed concern but she managed to hide it quickly as she told him, "they are fine with it, or at least as fine as they could be."

He could have left it at that, but he could somehow sense some internal struggle and concern from her, perhaps because of their strong connection to each other, but he could somehow sense her feelings and also just why she was feeling this way.

"They don't know do they?" He asked her, "and you're afraid to tell them?"

Daphne's eyes widened at him figuring her out but admitted, "I'm actually really scared to tell them actually."

"Well I imagine our relationship will be rather unorthodox but I survived the other girl's parents, how bad could your parents be in comparison to the others?" Harry pointed out, "besides I'm sure they will find out soon enough."

Daphne sighed and said, "yeah I'm afraid I can't really hide it from them for long, not when you are dating a celebrity, but still...you don't know my parents."

"Will they forbid us from being together?" He asked her worriedly.

"Actually quite the contrary," Daphne admitted, "my parents aren't all about the pureblood Voldemort supporter ideals, but they still do have some of the old wizarding family beliefs. They have actually been encouraging me to come on to you since I even mentioned you in one of my first letters home. They love that you are rich, famous, magically powerful, and very devoted to your studies, they consider you to be the ultimate catch for me."

"So what is the problem?" Harry pressed further, "is it because I'm dating more than one girl?"

"No, that's not it," Daphne answered, "I think I mentioned at some point that my grandfather had 2 wives so they would actually be more accepting of that then most. No, the problem is they would insist on a betrothal agreement if we are going to be dating, especially with you dating more than one girl besides me."

His eyes widened as he asked, "so they would expect me to…"

"Yes, if we're going to be dating they would want it to be more formalized in you agreeing to marry me sometime in the future," Daphne admitted, "I just didn't want to scare you away with such a major decision or cause problems with my parents. I know I can't really hide it from them for long, especially when the Daily Prophet inevitably finds out and publishes an article about you."

He digested this information as he thought it over. He supposed he was already thinking about marrying each of the girls, but he'd always thought that he had a lot more time before making such a big decision.

"Well what do you want to do?" He asked her, still unsure.

Daphne looked at him for a long moment before confessing, "would you totally hate me if I said I wanted to form a betrothal agreement with you?"

His eyes widened again but he still told her, "I could never hate you first of all and while I've never really thought about it, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea if that is what you want to do. I'm assuming that there would still be a way to back out if we decided not to get married someday?"

"It would be difficult and my parents would not be pleased but yes," Daphne agreed, "my thinking is though, I think we both know where things are going and that we likely will get married someday anyway, I know that I already love you and I know I would feel very lucky to marry you."

"I would feel very lucky to marry you too," He told her honestly as he gave her a hug and then a kiss.

"Thanks Harry," Daphne said with a sigh as she hugged him back before then tentatively asking, "so do you think that you would be okay with us getting betrothed?"

"I think that is something that we should probably discuss with the other girls but yes I'd be okay with it," He told her.

"Thanks Harry," Daphne replied gratefully.

….

There were some rather awkward conversations with his other girlfriends although Daphne did most of the talking and pleaded her case which after some debate each of his other girlfriends understood where she was coming from and agreed that she was making the right choice.

There was however another awkward conversation with Amelia and Karen who were his legal guardians and would be representing him if he were to get betrothed.

They however both reluctantly agreed to it and Amelia agreed to accompany him to the Greengrasses to go over the betrothal agreement and make sure it was sound.

A couple days later, he nervously accompanied Amelia over to Daphne's house.

He'd been over here quite a few times before and while Daphne's parents were rather nice and highly approved of him, he suspected a lot of it had to do with his fame and money, not him as a person.

At any rate, Daphne's parents greeted him and Amelia graciously at the door with Daphne and her younger sister Astoria standing awkwardly behind them.

All 4 of them were dressed very fancy in matching Slytherin green with Daphne's being the most extravagant and showed off her nice, developing figure. Obviously her parents had gotten her a new dress for just this occasion.

Daphne mouthed the words sorry to him as he entered.

He and Amelia were escorted over to the living room, where a small stack of papers were lying on the center table.

Daphne tried to sit off to the side but her mother said, "no sit with us Daphne."

She was forced to sit in between both of her parents, who were now looking at him like he was some great treasure they had just found.

"Would you like some food?" Daphne's mother offered, "we can have our house elf whip up anything that you would like?"

"No thanks," Amelia said tiredly, seeming to know just what to expect from this and not being particularly excited about it, "let's get started then."

"Yes let's," Daphne's father stated, "I took the liberty of having the betrothal agreement drawn up, you would just need to sign here and-"

"I'll take a look at it first," Amelia insisted.

"Of course," Daphne's father said, "feel free."

He sat there awkwardly as Amelia went over the betrothal agreement while Daphne's parents spoke with him.

"So I'm assuming that you will have a place to live when you and Daphne are married?" Daphne's mother asked.

"Well my parents did leave me a couple residential properties," Harry admitted, "we could probably live in one of those although we just might decide to continue to live at Bones Manor."

"Yes, that is quite a large home isn't it?" Daphne's mother observed, "so were you planning on forming a betrothal agreement with Susan then as well?"

"I figured I would let them decide for themselves if and when they wanted to be married," Amelia answered for him.

Daphne's parents didn't seem to mind her insinuation about them letting them choose.

"Yes well we felt it best that our daughter ensure that she receive the best possible future we could for her," Daphne's father answered, "just so you know Harry while our oldest and married son will of course inherit most of our family's inheritance, you will receive a rather sizeable dowry upon your marriage to Daphne, nothing that will of course hold much weight in comparison to your sizeable fortune but know that you are marrying a girl that isn't without means."

Personally Harry couldn't care less whether Daphne had so much as a knut to her family name but still nodded respectfully as if pleased they would think to do that.

"Of course in return with the union of our two families, we can also expect that you will show some support in some of my business dealings," Daphne's father told him, "I'm sure that your support would be quite valuable to me."

Bingo there it was, Harry thought. He had been warned by both Daphne and Amelia that Daphne's parents might make such a claim now, but he supposed he could live with it...assuming that it wasn't anything against what he believed in.

Daphne had however reassured him that both her parents weren't morally corrupt or do anything illegal or wrong or ask him to support anything like that either.

"I may be able to show my support if it aligns with my own interests," Harry replied as diplomatically as he could without really conceding anything.

This however was enough for Daphne's father who nodded his head, seeming pleased with that response.

Amelia however was more than halfway done with reading the betrothal agreement when she came across a certain section, which seemed to concern her.

"If a pregnancy occurs before marriage, then they should be legally forced to marry as soon as possible, at least before the birth of the child."

"It's all part of the standard contract, we wouldn't want my daughter having a child out of wedlock ," Daphne's father said.

Well Harry supposed as long as they were careful with magical birth control it probably wouldn't be a problem anyway.

Of course if he were to somehow get Daphne pregnant he would of course marry her early, especially if it mattered to her, and besides he was going to be marrying her anyway.

After agreeing to this, Amelia finished reading the contract before concluding that it was sound and she signed it, giving her approval before he in turn signed it along with the Greengrasses.

Upon the last signature, their signatures all glowed gold for a moment, making it magically and legally binding.

He'd heard from Daphne that if necessary there was a way to get out of it but it would be difficult not that he could see any reason he wouldn't want to marry Daphne, but right now he realized that unless something crazy happened he was definitely going to be marrying Daphne...which both made him nervous and also made him excited too.

Daphne was a wonderful girl...and he considered himself very lucky to be marrying her.

….

**Bellatrix**

Bellatrix made her way through the forest of Albania. She was greatly weakened from her encounter with Potter and his sluts and broodmares, but she at least had been smarter than her master had been and learned from his failure, protecting herself with certain wards and dark rituals that repelled love magics.

She had still paid a terrible price as her magic had been almost completely drained and it would likely take a long time to get back to full strength, in fact there was a strong possibility that she would never be as strong as she once was. It was regrettable, but better this than being dead and she was sure that no matter what, her master would find a way to make her more powerful than ever.

So instead she had decided to continue her search for her master, and with the diary gone that she could have used to communicate with and seek out her master far more easily she had been forced to find an alternative method.

She, unlike any other servant of her Master's was entrusted with the knowledge that her master had created several horcruxes, and she knew where at least 3 of them still were, having helped her master to hide them.

The first two were simply above her ability to acquire, even at full magical strength it would have been very difficult and risky to get past the many dangerous protections that they had on them, but the third horcrux was located in her vault at Gringotts.

She had previously rejected going after Hufflepuff's cup as it meant going into Gringotts and revealing her identity, but after growing desperate, she finally decided to risk going for it.

She'd been forced to Imperious and control a couple goblins at the bank with what little magic she had left, but it had proved worth it. She was able to get the cup and leave the bank without being discovered and then use the cup as well as a dark ritual to find and locate her master, who had apparently been hiding out in Albania all this time.

Now she knew she was getting close as she looked through the dark forest and to the ruins of the castle that lay before her.

It was clearly an area permeated with dark magic she thought. A place that practically wreaked with evil and death which meant of course that she absolutely loved it.

Yet she was even more concerned with finding her master.

She could sense his presence, she couldn't seem to see him but...he was definitely there.

"Bellatrix," A cold, dark, once very familiar voice greeted her with pleasure upon seeing her.

Bellatrix grinned widely upon finally locating her Lord as she greeted back, "Master!"

….

**Dumbledore**

Dumbledore had not told Harry everything, especially not the fact that Harry had been a horcrux, still wanting to protect him.

He had suspected that Harry had been a horcrux, but he'd been very reluctant to test out his theory, as it would have seemingly doomed Harry as he would have thought that the only way that the horcrux could be removed is if Harry died in the process. It would have caused a paradox: the only person who could kill Voldemort was Harry, while the only way Voldemort could be killed is if Harry died too, making Voldemort practically invincible.

Thank Merlin though that the horcrux had been destroyed through some other method that didn't involve the death of Harry.

The power of love had once again pleasantly surprised him and saved Harry's life.

This love however was different from the protection that his mother had given him, this love was from his now girlfriends that Dumbledore could tell Harry loved and they loved him very much. It would be interesting to see how their relationship turned out, especially after going through such an experience of sharing such a strong connection.

At any rate, he was determined to allow Harry to have as much time to simply enjoy being with those he loved while he focused on tracking down and destroying the rest of the horcruxes for him, while also still searching for what was left of Voldemort himself.

He now had the ones residing in the diary and Harry now destroyed, which if his suspicions and guesses from memories that he had collected were correct, that left Slytherin's locket, Slytherin's Ring, Hufflepuff's cup, and likely something from Ravenclaw.

Through a great deal of work, he had located what he believed to be Slytherin's ring inside the remains of the Gaunt Family Home.

He had considered simply going just himself alone but ultimately decided that if he was going to take on such a risky project, he'd probably need some back up just in case.

The problem was finding someone that he trusted enough and was powerful and competent enough to handle the many dark protections that Voldemort was sure to have surrounding all of his horcruxes.

He'd finally however decided that the one person that he felt that he could trust was his longtime confidant and friend Minerva McGonagall who he had confided in about the horcruxes and after some dismay at the great undertaking of such a necessary project, she had then agreed to help.

They headed to the ruins of the Gaunt Family home, no more than a hovel at best when it was first hastily constructed, and not at all liveable now.

Still it was clearly surrounded by dark magic and he was forced to take every precaution in searching for any hidden enchantments long before actually reaching what was left of the building itself.

Minerva searched as well, even though her knowledge of dark magic was significantly less than his own.

After hours, they finally removed or bypassed the dozens of dark spells in order to get to the ring, but they finally found it, located nestled right in the center of the room. Clearly Voldemort never thought anyone capable of actually getting this far.

Yet as soon as Dumbledore spotted the ring, his eyes went wide. Could it really be?

The resurrection stone? The stone that would allow him to…

His own great desire to finally get to use the resurrection stone and speak to both his dearly departed parents and sister Ariana seemed to combine with a sudden compulsion to touch the ring and-

"Dumbledore!" He heard Minerva call him back.

Yet he couldn't seem to stop himself from going and grasping the stone that he had searched for for so long, to see his family again, to apologize for everything that he had put them through, in particular what he had done to Ariana, how she would still be alive if it wasn't for-

"Dumbledore!" Minerva called again but he still ignored her.

His hands were only mere inches from grasping the ring when-

He was knocked off his feet by a spell cast at him and he fell to the floor hard.

He was bruised and in pain, such a fall at his age certainly really hurt but the good thing was whatever compulsion he had felt to grab Slytherin's ring was gone.

"Are you alright Albus?" Minerva asked worriedly as she helped him up.

"I'm alright," Dumbledore said gravely, "thank you."

If it wasn't for Minerva he most definitely would have grasped the ring where no doubt there was still at least one deadly curse on it.

He did still want to use the resurrection stone, but concluded very regretfully that the destruction of the horcrux was more important.

After removing the protections on the ring itself, Dumbledore used Fiendfyre to destroy the ring and there was a loud scream as the piece of Voldemort's soul was destroyed.

Once he made sure however that the horcrux was truly gone however he picked up the ring again.

Perhaps the resurrection stone still might work…

He couldn't help but grin at getting his answer.

Author's Note: So I actually got quite a few reviews commenting about how busty I was making the girls and after some debate I decided to make them more average-ish for their age, changing the story thus far to reflect that, Susan at least will still be quite busty for her age, but not extremely so either, with the other girls ranging from average to slightly bigger than average. If you have read some of my other stories, I do tend to make them bigger chested than usual, but in this case I decided if it was too distracting and too much of an issue for the readers then I would make some changes and try to improve to make a better story.

Also I felt this is a good time to point out that I definitely do welcome positive or constructive feedback or reviews in this story and I'm willing to listen and learn for ways that I can improve, I'm most definitely not perfect, nor a professional writer and merely do this for fun. If you just want to say simply that you liked the story, then that is great too as it gives me reason and a desire to continue writing it.

If you want to point out something that is bothering you, or give constructive criticism, especially when you offer ways in which I can improve or ideas that you have that you want to see make it into the story in the future please feel free, I can't guarantee that I will implement them, but I will at least consider them if I feel it could improve the story. Thank You very much for reading.


	19. The Quidditch World Cup

**Chapter 19**

**The Quidditch World Cup**

**Harry**

One particular event that they had all been looking forward to was the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, Ireland versus Bulgaria.

Amelia had to be there as part of security weeks in advance but each of the study group and their families all joined her a couple days before.

Harry and his girlfriends however all decided to share a tent and have a multiple night sleepover...after some convincing from their parents and promising that they wouldn't get into any mischief. It certainly helped that they were all considered very good, responsible teenagers by their parents.

Admittedly he felt a bit nervous, over at the Bones Family Mansion, the house had been large enough for him and each of the girls whenever they stayed over to have their own rooms. This would be the first time spending the night with any of his girlfriends in the same room.

They each had their own separate beds and the tent was quite spacious as it was a magical tent, but still it was just one large room in the tent.

"Just so you know I sleep in the nude Harry," Daphne teased him.

"You do not!" Padma argued, tossing a pillow at Daphne.

Daphne grinned and said, "You didn't have to tell Harry that though so he would have to wonder if that was really true or not. Might have even kept him up half the night wondering and thinking about it."

"I'm not so sure I'll be able to sleep with all of you attractive girls around me anyway," Harry admitted.

Each of the girls couldn't help but grin at that.

"It's no big deal Harry, all we'll be doing is sleeping nearby and we'll all be wearing our pajamas," Susan reassured him.

Susan was already dressed in her pajamas, but she somehow made even her pajamas look good.

"Close your eyes Harry, I'm going to change now," Hermione told him.

"No peeking," Daphne warned.

"I trust Harry not to peek," Hermione reassured.

Dutifully and in order not to betray the girls' trust in him he closed his eyes while the rest of the girls got changed into their pajamas, only opening them when they told him he could.

"Everybody ready to play some games?" Hermione asked afterwards, now dressed in her pajamas.

"Strip Poker?" Daphne suggested.

"No, we're not playing strip poker," Hermione said with a scowl.

"Harry wouldn't mind though would you Harry?" Daphne asked him.

"Um…" He said, unsure what to say to that.

"Of course I'm sure you wouldn't like it if you lost but we certainly would," Daphne added with a wink.

Hermione had to shake her head as she banished away some probably naughty thought about him as she said, "I was thinking more like some board games. I brought a bunch of Muggle ones from home."

"Well that sounds like fun!" Susan agreed enthusiastically as she went over to see what Hermione had brought.

They ended up playing Sorry, Uno, and Go Fish before ending with a good old fashioned pillow fight.

"I'm Queen of the Tent!" Daphne insisted as she stood upon her bed like she had just conquered it.

"Not if we can help it!" Padma replied as she beckoned him over, "come help me take Daphne down."

He grinned and helped Padma pummel Daphne with pillows before they were then in turn attacked by Hermione and Susan.

Finally after a long but tiring pillow fight, they all settled down and finished getting ready for bed.

Once they all tried to get some sleep, he however stayed awake for a while, not because as he had feared being too nervous to sleep around all his very attractive girlfriends, but because of just how well...natural and good it felt to be sleeping so close to all of them.

They were his girlfriends yes, but more and more he couldn't help but see each of them as something more. Perhaps it was partially because he was also now betrothed to Daphne and that caused him to have it more on his mind but…

They were more than family to him now, all of them...he didn't even know how to describe it really. He just felt that it was just...somehow right to be all sleeping together like this.

He listened to the gentle breathing of each of the girls as they all one by one fell asleep. That too felt natural somehow.

He couldn't help but feel like it would soon always be like this...he would marry them, not just Daphne who he was now betrothed to, but all 4 of them. It was certainly a very good thought to think about even if he tried to tell himself not to think too far ahead.

At any rate he decided he'd better try and get some sleep and it wasn't long before he fell asleep too.

…

When the actual Quidditch World Cup came, he thoroughly enjoyed watching the match between Ireland and Bulgaria.

At the beginning when the mascots all came out, he noticed that the Bulgarian mascots were actually veela. He'd read about, but mostly heard even more about veela from his male Gryffindor dorm mates, who were quite eager to explain about the great attributes of veela.

Personally though he couldn't imagine any woman being better looking than his girlfriends.

As they did their little song and dance, Harry noticed that many of the wizards around him were now acting very foolishly and he couldn't help laugh a little at their antics. The veela women were beautiful but not that beautiful. Not like…

He ended up turning to look at each of the girls who were all now looking at him with impressed looks on their faces.

"What?" Harry asked, wondering what he had somehow done right.

"You don't seem at all affected by the veela," Susan observed.

"No, I guess not," Harry noted.

Hermione seemed a bit hesitant to say it but finally admitted, "It is said only wizards that are already truly in love with a witch can totally resist a veela's charms."

Did he really actually love the girls that much?

"I guess I actually do love each of you that much," Harry admitted.

The girls all looked at him and smiled, pleased to see that.

"We love you to Harry," Padma told him as she reached over and squeezed his hand.

Once again he felt the love from each of them through their connection.

Perhaps he was picking up on and feeling particularly strong emotions from them even before, but ever since the Bellatrix incident, it seemed to happen more frequently and he was actually aware when it happened, which admittedly was actually rather nice to feel so connected to the girls that he loved.

He however eventually decided to try not to dwell on it too much just then and focus on the Quidditch match which once it got started was very easy to get into.

It ended in Ireland winning the match, but the Bulgarian star seeker Victor Krum getting the snitch.

As the match ended and the Ireland supporters cheered as the World Cup trophy was presented to the Irish National Team, Harry and the girls who had opted to root for Ireland themselves, all cheered too.

"We should celebrate or something," Padma suggested.

"We should," Susan agreed, "not that any of us are actually Irish...well I suppose I have some Irish in me, but it's an excuse to celebrate."

For the adults as well as some of the boys Harry knew at Hogwarts, celebrating meant drinking, but none of them saw any reason to try alcohol for the first time and so they contented themselves with non-alcoholic butterbeer to drink.

It was also one of the stipulations that they had promised to make when getting their parents to agree to let them have a sleepover together in the same tent, which was probably wise considering the many other people out drinking around them, but was easy enough to refuse.

After playing some more games they then ended up going to sleep and this time he had no trouble getting to sleep easily, contented and relaxed by having his girlfriends all around him.

…..

He was however awoken to the sounds of screaming.

Bleary eyed, he grabbed his wand instinctively.

Each of the girls were woken up too by the screams.

"What's going on?" Padma asked, still half-asleep but also now reaching for her wand as well.

"I don't know, I'm going to go find out," He insisted, "stay here."

"We're coming with you," Hermione insisted, not about to let him go out into potential danger alone.

Leave it to the Gryffindor to be brave, Harry thought.

He then noticed all 4 of the girls seemed to want to go with him, evidently he was rubbing off on them much to his annoyance.

Unable to sway them otherwise it looked like, he sighed and they all headed out of the tent.

They found the campground in chaos as people were running and screaming past them, trying to get away from a large group of hooded figures that were casting spells at whoever they came across with several different people being tortured on the ground.

Amelia was over there with a group of aurors trying to fight them off.

"Come on, let's go help," Susan suggested.

They all silently agreed as they rushed on over.

Before they made it over to Amelia however they were suddenly stopped by about 8 different hooded figures who now that they were up close, Harry noticed that they were all wearing silver masks.

Death Eaters, Harry thought grimly. He'd heard all about them from Amelia and from reading a couple different books about modern wizard history.

Each of the Death Eaters seemed to study the girls for a moment in a way that made Harry definitely want to protect them.

"Ooh, I'm going to have fun with these!" One of the Death Eaters said excitedly.

"I want the mudblood," One of the death eaters said, looking at Hermione as he somehow knew that she was a muggleborn.

"Take them out and then have whatever fun you want to have with them afterward," The apparent Death Eater leader said, "but leave Potter to me."

At that the death eaters tried to surround them and attack, but fortunately Harry and his friends had prepared enough for just such a moment like this, whenever it came.

None of them, besides perhaps Daphne, actually enjoyed fighting or magically dueling, but they had done some training with Amelia, who had given them the same training that aurors normally did.

Susan managed to take out one of the death eaters while he hit another, knocking him unconscious.

"You pathetic lot! They are only teenagers, you're better than this!" The apparent leader of the death eaters yelled.

With renewed efforts the Death Eaters started attacking with renewed vigor as Harry and his friends were forced to either dodge or throw up magical shields to defend themselves.

They were still slightly outnumbered but that didn't last for too long as Hermione to some satisfaction took out the one who had been wanting to go after her.

This left them matched up one on one with the remaining death eaters.

Harry dueled against the leader of the death eaters himself one on one and it was clear he was the best duelist among the Death Eaters by far.

He only narrowly avoided another killing curse before attacking back, which was quickly defended by the Death Eater leader.

Yet then it soon proved Death Eaters did not play fair as the Death Eater leader cast a Killing Curse not at him, but at Hermione who didn't see it as she was still busy taking on her own opponent.

There was simply no time to stop the attack, nor could he as it was a killing curse.

Acting purely on instinct in an effort to save Hermione's life, he did the only he could as he threw himself directly in front of the oncoming spell.

It hit him directly in the stomach and as he landed on the ground, having just been hit by the Killing Curse for the 4th time, he felt something inside himself fighting off the attack.

He however focused once again on his girlfriends and his love for them, they were his strength and they would be what saved him yet again.

Time seemed to stop as his girlfriends became aware of the mortal danger that he was in. He felt a powerful connection to them, stronger even than the last time this had happened, and he felt suddenly aware of all the powerful magic that he had at his disposal from each of them.

He drew upon that magic to help repel the Killing Curse.

There was a loud explosion as the Killing Curse rebounded and instead hit the Death Eater leader. He didn't stand a chance as his entire body was instantly destroyed.

At once all the other Death Eaters stopped fighting, surprised to see their leader fall, and immediately they tried to flee...only to be stopped by spells from Harry and his girlfriends.

However there was then a cry of anger and horror from one of the onlookers.

"Father!" Draco Malfoy screamed in anguish.

The man that had just been killed was apparently his father Lucius.

With shock and horror, Harry realized that he had just killed someone. Lucius Malfoy was dead because of him.

He hadn't intended it to happen, but it had still happened nonetheless.

Draco turned to look at him, his eyes full of tears as he yelled, "You did this! You killed my father! You'll pay! I'll kill you myself!"

Draco tried to cast a spell at him, but the girls were too fast as 4 different spells hit him before he could.

"I killed someone," Harry said breathlessly, still trying to process this.

"You didn't do it on purpose," Susan tried to reassure him, "he nearly killed you or Hermione...and I'm much more glad that you are still alive. In war things happen, but it is better that it happen to bad people than good ones. You shouldn't feel guilty for merely trying to survive and protect others."

"You saved me Harry," Hermione observed, tears coming to her eyes as she realized just how close to death she had come and also how grateful she was to him. Yet then her expression changed into anger as she insisted, "but you shouldn't have done that, you could have easily died!"

An angry Hermione was definitely something that he didn't want, she could be much more scary than any Death Eater, but he definitely didn't regret making such a decision.

"What was I supposed to do, let you die?" He argued as his voice cracked as he thought of losing Hermione...or any of his girlfriends, "I couldn't bear to lose any of you, I'd willingly give my life for any of yours. I...love you each of you too much for that."

Each of the girls, including Hermione, softened at that as tears came to each of their eyes. He could definitely feel the love from each of them very strongly just then.

After surviving the killing curse in such a way yet again, it seemed very likely that their bond had only gotten even stronger.

At that they all came in for a group hug.

"I love you girls," Harry admitted, "I would do anything to protect you, even give my own life if necessary."

"We know Harry," Hermione told him, "and we all love you too but we couldn't bear to lose you either."

After a moment they pulled away from the embrace as they heard cries for them.

Amelia and several aurors were approaching, having evidently dealt with the group of Death Eaters they were facing and were now looking at all the Death Eaters lying around them that they had defeated as well as Draco.

"Are you all okay?" Amelia asked them all worriedly.

"We're fine Aunty," Susan told her, her eyes still full of tears.

Daphne seemed to be the most composed and so decided to be the one to explain just what had happened.

Amelia shook her head as she said, "I can't believe I let this happen. We've been dealing with budget cuts in the Auror department for years, but Minister Fudge kept insisting that we'd already taken care of any Dark Wizards and there were none left to oppose us. I knew that it wasn't true, that they would reappear one day as they did today, but my demands continually fell on deaf ears. People just felt too safe and voted against an increase to the auror budget...now it seems that we've all paid the price."

"At least we've taken into custody a lot of them, in part thanks to all of you," Kingsley Shacklebolt said, one of the aurors that Harry had met once when he'd come over to their house once to speak to Amelia, his boss's boss.

"We captured about a dozen more, which is at least more than half of the Death Eaters that attacked here but there are still more at large we'll have to apprehend," Amelia observed, "at least with the attack I'll definitely have leverage to force the Ministry to increase our budget and with any luck we'll be able to remove the rest of what is left of the Death Eaters."

"We'll all be working overtime until the ones responsible are all caught," Shacklebolt promised.

Amelia nodded approvingly and said, "well let's start rounding up the ones that we have caught first and try to interrogate them."

All the aurors went to go do as she asked while Amelia went over and stood by what was left of Lucius Malfoy.

"Never thought I would see the day," She commented, a grim smile on her face.

"I can't believe I killed him though," Harry couldn't help but say.

Amelia's expression softened as she said, "with war death is inevitable for either side. I've seen it too many times. You shouldn't feel bad Harry, Lucius was a terrible person who had killed and tortured plenty even though we were never able to prove it. It is good however that you feel some guilt as that means you are only the caring and wonderful young man I know you are but don't dwell on that guilt as while Lucius certainly deserved to die, you were just trying to protect yourself and others and you shouldn't feel guilty as the alternative would have meant either you or Hermione would have died. If however you continue to harbor feelings of guilt or distress I would be happy to have you talk to the same therapist that the aurors use after having had a particularly traumatic experience."

"I'll think about it," Harry told her, unsure whether or not he really needed it or not.

Harry however then looked at Draco, still unconscious. Draco hadn't been directly involved as a Death Eater himself, but he did wonder what was going to happen to him. In any case he was sure that Draco would now definitely be out for revenge for the death of his father, that much was certain.

He might not try anything for a while, trying to bide his time and look for the right moment, but Harry was sure that he would try something at some point and he ought to watch his back.

Yet looking at his girlfriends, he noted that they certainly had his back just as much as he had theirs...and there was nobody he trusted more.

…

**Susan**

Later on, once everything settled down, Susan went to go find Harry and check to make sure that he was okay and make sure that he wasn't blaming himself for anything.

She managed to find him sitting alone inside their tent.

"Are you okay?" Susan asked him worriedly.

He sighed and said, "I think I'll be fine, like you've all said, I shouldn't blame myself and I'd much rather it be Lucius Malfoy dead than Hermione."

From what she could tell though as their bond had apparently gotten only stronger, Harry wasn't exactly telling the whole story. It seemed that he felt like that would eventually be the case, although he was still worried about Draco, both because he knew he would eventually try to get revenge and also because no one, not even Draco should have to grow up without a father.

She could understand that just as well as Harry, having lost her own father to the war with Voldemort.

Sitting down next to him on his bed, she put a hand on his shoulder and said, "well I'm here for you if you ever want to talk."

Harry managed a small smile and said, "thanks."

They both continued to sit in silence for a while though as she just merely held him.

Finally however she decided to point out, "you know, you've actually helped save all of us by now at least once, you saved Hermione and me from the troll, helped save Padma from the diary, saved all of us from the dementor on the train, saved me from the killing curse from Bellatrix, and now Hermione from Lucius Malfoy."

He seemed to think about that and realized that she did have a point but also reminded her, "I feel like each of you has saved me just as much."

Susan couldn't help but smile at that as she said, "all of us make a good team."

It may have seemed strange to some, their relationship, but she wouldn't have it any other way by now.

He smiled and told her, "I'm glad that I've been able to save each of you and you are still here, although I do wish we didn't keep somehow ending up in danger."

"Yeah, I agree," Susan said, "you're much braver than the rest of us though."

"I'm only brave when I have to be," Harry said, "I would do anything to protect you girls, anything...I couldn't bear it if I lost you."

"I couldn't bear it if I had lost you," Susan told him back, "I love you Harry...with all my heart."

In that moment she felt an overwhelming feeling of love both from Harry as well as her love for him.

She wanted to do something, to express just how much he meant to her.

They both came together for a kiss and as they continued to make out, it seemed that their thoughts and minds seemed to blend together in that instant.

Evidently their bond or connection really had gotten even stronger and she guessed that her natural empathy for others made it easier for her to pick up on things which made it even more noticeable in her case.

Right now she was feeling the strong feelings of love for her from Harry, but also the way that he saw her.

Her breath caught as she saw the way that he saw her, for the gorgeous young woman that she was both inside and out.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked as they had stopped kissing for her to process how he really felt about her.

"No," She admitted before then asking, "just saw the way that you felt about me that's all, must be our bond manifesting itself, I think it's gotten even stronger."

"Yeah, it definitely has," Harry agreed, "I've been picking up on more now too."

"Is that really how you feel about me?" Susan asked.

"Yes," He admitted, seeming to remember just what he had just been thinking about her.

She blushed as she then thought of just how much she loved Harry, she really did love him...and she was definitely going to be spending the rest of her life with him.

There was no doubt in her mind now, she was going to marry Harry Potter and become his wife and have his children.

She made a decision right then and there about something she had been thinking about already, but only just now did she know she really wanted to do it.

….

After her conversation with Harry she immediately went to go find her mother.

"I would like to form a betrothal contract with Harry," Susan announced.

Her mother seemed surprised but still took her seriously, aware that her daughter wouldn't make such a decision lightly.

"Are you sure?" Her mother asked, "you don't have to if you don't-"

"I know that I don't have to, but I really want to," Susan said, "there is no one else I would rather be with than Harry, I love him and I intend to marry him."

Of course she didn't have to be betrothed to him, unlike Daphne's parents, her mother and Aunt would never expect that of her despite a generation or two ago that being the expectation for their family. She just wanted Harry, her family, and everyone else to know what her priorities and goals were: to marry Harry.

Her mother studied her for a moment before then smiling as she said, "well I suppose if this is what you really want and if Harry wants it too, then who am I to stand in the way of it."

Susan smiled back as she went and gave her a hug and said, "thanks mum."

"Well it's not like I wasn't expecting you to marry him anyway, I just didn't think you would make such a decision so soon," Her mother answered, "we can talk to Amelia and have her help form the betrothal contract."

"Sounds good," Susan said, "I haven't told Harry yet that's what I want, but since he's already betrothed to Daphne, I'm sure it shouldn't be a problem for him."

"Are you sure you are okay sharing a husband with another woman?" Her mother asked, wanting to be sure she knew just what she was getting into.

"Yes, I'm sure," Susan answered with finality.

It would certainly be a challenge, but she had already been sharing Harry up to this point and she felt more and more comfortable doing so the more their relationship progressed.

**Please Review!**


	20. The Triwizard Tournament

**Chapter 20**

**The Triwizard Tournament**

**Harry**

Today was a really good day, Harry thought. He had just signed the betrothal contract with Susan, which meant he was almost definitely going to be marrying both Daphne and now Susan, they were pretty much engaged by this point.

Having now two very attractive wives to be certainly was a very good thought.

"You thinking about marrying me and Susan?" Daphne asked, seeming amused by him.

He sighed as he realized that their strengthening connection and bond was causing each of them to pick up on more and more from each other.

It was mostly toward him from each of the girls or from him towards each of them, but it seemed the girls were picking up a bit from each other as well.

For the most part they only picked up particularly strong emotions or thoughts, but he found if he concentrated really hard, he could actively pick up on things as well.

"I don't mind you thinking about marrying us Harry," Daphne answered before grinning and asking, "maybe you should think what it will be like on our wedding night?"

Unbidden an image came to his mind of a very naked Susan and Daphne.

"I don't look like that you know," Daphne pointed out.

Harry groaned as he asked, "you picked up on that?"

Evidently this bond thing was causing problems.

Daphne however smiled and said, "no, I just figured I would mess with you is all."

"Hey!" Harry complained.

"Of course if you wanted to see what I look like naked, all you have to do is ask," Daphne teased him.

Harry's heart stopped momentarily at such a suggestion, but then realized that she was still messing with him.

"You're seriously killing me Daphne," He complained.

"I know," Daphne said with a grin, "can't a girl have some fun?"

A thought struck him as he wondered if he concentrated hard enough if he could see what Daphne looked like naked from her memories or something.

Yet such an act he would never do without her permission and instead he settled on the image of Daphne wearing her bikini in front of him when they went swimming yesterday.

"Let me guess me in my bikini?" Daphne guessed.

He groaned but she laughed and said, "sorry Harry I know you too well. Not that I mind of course."

They both then came together and began making out as they grasped each other's bums.

Mmm, Daphne had such a nice bum, he thought.

He swore he could feel her think that he had a nice bum in return.

After they finished their long make out session however his mind went back to the strengthening of their bond. He was enjoying the effects of feelings so close to each of the girls and wanted to only make it stronger.

However he was also worried about privacy and he knew that they also needed to learn how to control it.

He brought up his thoughts to Daphne, who seemed to agree.

"I will admit I do like having such a connection with you Harry," Daphne answered, "but I will also confess that there is plenty that I would prefer to keep to myself. I also have thought or done things that I'm not proud of you should probably know."

"There isn't anything that you could do though that would make me stop loving you though," Harry told her.

Daphne smiled and said, "The same goes for me. It will certainly be interesting figuring this all out, our connection, but I think it could potentially be beneficial if we manage to master and use it right."

"We'll have to bring it up with Hermione, Padma, and Susan," Harry suggested.

….

When the school year started, Harry got on the train with his girlfriends, 2 of which he was now betrothed to, sitting between Daphne and Susan.

The thought struck him however that perhaps he ought to call Daphne and Susan something else now that he was betrothed to both of them.

"I don't know, I've wondered about that too," Susan admitted when he asked them, "I mean we are pretty much engaged by this point but I also wouldn't want to lessen any of the relationship that you have with both Padma and Hermione."

Hermione however scoffed and said, "just call him what you want, how we want to define our relationships with Harry should be done individually like everything else. I'm happy calling Harry my boyfriend and if you want to call him your fiance or betrothed or still boyfriend or whatever you can work it out between you."

Susan smiled gratefully and said, "thanks Hermione, I mean I decided I wanted to get betrothed to Harry and I do think that warrants a notable change in our relationship status, but you know me I worry about hurting anyone's feelings."

"We're fine Susan," Padma answered, "we're all at different levels in our relationship and you just happen to be a bit further along then me or Hermione. It's really to be expected, especially since you're the one who actually lives with him and was already considering him to be family as it is."

Harry nodded, that actually was a really good point.

Daphne and he had gotten betrothed out of her parent's expectations and to make it easier for them and their relationship, with Susan on the other hand, she had made that decision herself because she knew she loved him and that's what she wanted to do.

He'd wondered quite a bit at just where his relationship was at with each of the girls. All of them loved him, that much was certain, but that didn't mean they were all ready to say get married and try and have a bunch of babies right now. Even getting betrothed to them was only an intention of what would happen in the future.

Susan, who he had spent the most time with having lived at her house over the summers, was far enough along in her feelings and relationship to him that she felt ready to pretty much get engaged to him.

Daphne he was also betrothed to, but she also didn't have quite as strong of feelings for him as Susan did from what he could tell. She was however much more open and ready for a more physical relationship. So far that had just meant making out and feeling up each other's bums, but he suspected that it wouldn't be long before she would be wanting to go even further, which he felt like he was about ready for himself, maybe not all the way, but definitely more.

He was however also totally okay with waiting and being patient with the other girls as well. After making her betrothal decision, he suspected that Susan would at some point during the upcoming school year decide to go much further physically as well and whenever that time came was fine with him.

Padma and Hermione however were more conservative and reserved. Padma was naturally rather shy, but her feelings for him were also very strong, which he had felt through their bond on more than one occasion.

He felt like in her case she would likely decide what she wanted long before actually getting up the courage to actually act on it.

Hermione on the other hand,as a Muggleborn coming from more modern parents, getting betrothed wasn't something that would match her background and upbringing, nor was having sexual relations so young, but she at least seemed to understand and accept that the other girls might think differently.

She also knew that he knew and understood that about her which helped quite a bit.

During this whole time he had been thinking about his individual relationships with the girls, Susan and Daphne seemed to also be thinking about how to define their relationships with him.

Susan finally then decided to ask him, "I would like to be called your fiancee and to be able to call you my fiance in return if that is alright with you Harry?"

"Of course," He answered immediately, smiling at her and saying, "fiancee then."

Susan smiled back, clearly liking this.

"Well I've decided you now have to call me your sexy beast," Daphne answered.

"Maybe I might be willing to call you that when we are alone," Harry said, "but definitely not in public."

"Why not?" Daphne teased, "aren't I sexy?"

"Yes, you are," Harry agreed, "but I'm so not say introducing you to a new teacher or something and calling you a sexy beast."

"For the first time I don't think we actually have a new teacher," Hermione said, "Professor Lupin is returning as the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher so we don't even need a new teacher for that."

"Nice to see that teaching job curse was broken," Susan observed.

It hadn't taken them long last year to figure out that Professor Lupin was in fact a werewolf, but he'd managed to keep it in check, just using the wolfsbane potion that Professor Slughorn made for him each month. It had gone well enough that Professor Lupin had been offered and accepted teaching as the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor permanently.

Whether there was actually a curse on the job or not, it was nice to see Professor Lupin would be returning.

"Well I suppose if you aren't willing to call me your sexy beast then you can call me your fiancee too if you want Harry," Daphne offered.

"Sounds good to me," Harry told her, deciding to give her a quick kiss to seal it.

Apparently he now had 2 girlfriends and 2 fiancees now.

After then kissing Susan, he then went and got up to go and sit between Hermione and Padma so they wouldn't feel too left out and show that he appreciated what he had with them as well.

"You can still just call me your girlfriend," Hermione told him.

He nodded and then Padma after thinking for a moment said, "just call me your girlfriend for now Harry."

He caught the for now part and he sensed that Padma was thinking about getting betrothed to him as well but rather than say something, he decided it ought to be a decision that she made for herself.

If she wanted to, that was great, if not, that was fine too.

The conversation then changed to a different subject.

"So do you all know about what is going to be happening at Hogwarts this year?" Daphne asked, a wide grin on her face at knowing some secret the rest of them didn't.

Hermione however scolded her and said, "let me guess you won't tell us unless you can either get something from us or until we beg and plead for you to tell us."

"Slytherin!" Daphne said raising her hand as if she was testifying that she was guilty of some sort of crime, which contrary to some Gryffindors' opinions, being a Slytherin was in fact not an actual crime that automatically somehow made you evil.

"Me and Harry already know all about it," Susan said, "my Aunt Amelia's been involved with it."

"Guess better luck next time with trying to mess with us," Hermione told her.

"What makes you think we're going to tell you either?" Harry teased her.

Hermione looked unsure of herself, her natural curiosity wanting to find out about absolutely everything while also not wanting to give in too easily.

Padma however decided to just ask him, "I'd like to know if you could tell me please Harry."

"Okay," Harry instantly agreed.

"That's not how this works," Daphne scolded him, "you're supposed to get Padma or Hermione to do something for you before you tell them."

"What about this?" Padma asked as she then leaned forward and kissed him for a bit.

"That sounds good enough to me," Harry replied with a grin as he then admitted, "so this year we're going to have the Triwizard Tournament."

"It's coming back!" Hermione exclaimed in surprise, "I've read all about it in Hogwarts: A History, apparently it got discontinued ages ago from too many contestants getting seriously injured or even dying."

"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Daphne answered, seeming unbothered by the danger, "I overheard my uncle talking about it with my parents, it's supposed to be dangerous, but you also get 1,000 galleons as prize money, the whole school will be watching you, and it seems like every winner of it has gone on to be wildly successful in their career. It sounds awesome!"

"Maybe watching it, it might be awesome," Hermione said.

"I think it would be scary even watching it," Padma argued.

Susan then said, "anyway Aunty has been making sure that it is going to be a lot safer in bringing it back."

"Lame," Daphne complained.

"No, it will still be a real challenge," Susan reassured her, "with plenty of dangers to it, but there will be plenty of security measures, such as people on hand nearby just in case things get too out of control. Injuries are to be expected and inevitable, but they don't want anything happening that can't be easily fixed with magic by a healer."

"Well that doesn't sound too bad then," Hermione answered, seeming to think it over, "I don't think that I would want to compete though."

"Me neither," Padma immediately answered.

He'd thought about trying to enter himself when he had first heard from Amelia about it but ultimately decided against it, he had more than enough money and fame, but he would be happy to support any of the girls if they wanted to enter.

"Well I'm definitely entering!" Daphne said eagerly.

"I'm not sure if you will be able to or not," Harry admitted, not really sure on this part, "Amelia said something about there being an age limit."

"Yeah, but we're better than most of even the older students," Daphne claimed, "I bet we can get them to give me an exception."

"You would have to ask Dumbledore I'm sure," Hermione suggested.

"Well Dumbledore did have us go through that obstacle course challenge even as merely first years," Padma pointed out, "he might consider us more capable than the average fourth year student and consider us potentially capable of something that would really test us."

"Of course we would still be behind, say the 6th or 7th year students," Hermione also pointed out, "even if we were allowed to submit our names, it would be a very low chance that we would actually be selected."

"I was thinking about that too," Susan said, "I've been thinking about whether I want to try and compete or not."

All of them were actually quite surprised by that admission.

"You want to compete?" Padma asked her.

It didn't seem all that characteristic of Susan at first glance, but then he realized Susan did still have that desire to be her very best self, he doubted it was because of the money or the fame of being a Triwizard Champion, although living up to her proud family name might play a role, but instead he guessed it was proving to herself just what she was capable of.

Susan blushed and admitted, "well yes, I don't think I will actually be selected, it seems rather unlikely I would but I think I would like to at least try."

They all had to agree to that as even if all 5 of them decided to try and at least submit their names it was unlikely they would actually be selected.

Personally though, he couldn't help but feel very biased and think that his girlfriends and fiancees were the best witches ever and why wouldn't whatever judge or selection committee choose them?

Of course he also couldn't say he particularly wanted any of them willingly going into danger either, but he felt he could at least support them (with some understandable fears) if they were indeed selected.

….

**Susan**

When they got to school, they were forced to sit at their own individual house tables, which unfortunately for the beginning and ending of the school year feasts they had to sit with just their own houses.

This Susan understood, although she missed Harry and the other girls with her whenever they had to do this. She was however pleased to see that they were having a positive influence on other students as otherwise it seemed more and more students were following their example in sitting at different house tables as it became more of a mix of a students being friends with students from other houses.. She had even seen a couple of Gryffindors at the Slytherin table towards the end of last year which was really great to see that the rivalry barriers seemed to be breaking down so much.

Dumbledore however stood up and announced the Triwizard Tournament, including mentioning that the age limit would be set at 17.

There were plenty of audible groans at that, including Susan knew to be Daphne's, although he was sure that she would try to still ask to get an exception. That however could go either way, it would be hard to get permission but Daphne could be very persuasive when she wanted to be and Dumbledore had been known in the past to make exceptions for them and set up challenges for them to really test them.

She had decided that if Daphne was indeed able to get permission for both of them to try and enter, then she would definitely submit her name at the very least. She again didn't expect to be selected, but she at least wanted to try.

They got their answer during their next study session as Hermione was currently going over the plans for the upcoming year, her study planners for each of them looking even more full of stuff than last year if that was possible.

As usual Susan was probably going to have to get her to tone it down a bit to keep her from burning them out or not allowing enough date time with Harry.

Daphne however came in late, with a big, smug grin on her face.

"I did it! I got permission!" Daphne said excitedly, "Dumbledore said each of us at least could enter if we wanted to."

"Count me out, I'm still not doing it," Padma immediately replied.

"I'll be happy to watch any of you girls if you want to compete and are selected," Harry said, "but I'll be more happy just to watch you or whoever is selected."

Hermione seemed to think about it for a moment but also nodded her head in agreement as she also didn't seem inclined to enter.

Susan however couldn't help but still want to do it, she didn't particularly care about the fame and glory, that just wasn't her, nor did she really need the money as her family was quite rich, but it would be nice to be able to either pay her mother and Aunt back a bit for all the years of relying on them to buy her clothes or food or school supplies. If she planned it out right, she could even pay for her own school supplies and other things for the rest of her Hogwarts education. Then of course there was the fact that she was a Hufflepuff, and Hufflepuff had unfortunately always been looked down upon as the weakest of the Hogwarts Houses, she wanted to prove everybody wrong and that Hufflepuff really did have some amazing witches and wizards in it. Then of course she also wanted to prove just how great the Bones Family was."

"I'm going to enter," Susan said finally.

The other members of the study group seemed still a bit surprised but still encouraged her to do it if she wanted.

"If you want to, then you should totally go for it," Hermione encouraged her.

"Yeah, I'm sure you or Daphne will both do great," Harry agreed, "I'll cheer super loud for either of you if you are selected."

"That depends on if either of us are selected though," Susan reminded him, "there are a lot of great students that are much older and more experienced than us that will be entering."

"None as good as us though," Daphne insisted confidently.

"I think Daphne is right, none are as great as either of you," Harry agreed.

Susan couldn't help but blush a little at the compliment. Well she would at least enter and see how it went.

…..

When the other 2 schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang finally arrived, she gathered with the rest of Hogwarts to greet them.

First of all, Beauxbatons got there and Susan noticed that it appeared to be an all female school, a fact of which was of great interest to a lot of the males at Hogwarts. In particular though she noticed one particularly attractive girl who was obviously a veela and had attracted the attention of nearly every male there.

She was tall, with large, perfect breasts and with perfect silvery blonde hair that swished against her perfect bum, and wearing a short skirt that allowed her to show off her perfect legs.

She was in a word perfect, probably any wizard's dream and she couldn't help but feel rather intimidated. It wasn't like she was ugly herself, quite the contrary, as she got plenty of attention, mostly for her chest, but also for her gorgeous dark red hair, her pretty eyes, and...yet it was definitely her heart and caring for others that she felt was her best feature.

This veela girl on the other hand...

She noticed the girl acting very stuck up and snobbish, seeming well aware of the attention that she was getting and she noticed her insult and look down on one of the other Beauxbatons girls for something she had done...she didn't exactly catch the whole conversation herself.

However it was enough to make Susan find the veela girl much less attractive all of a sudden.

That did not however seem to matter to most of the unfortunately superficial, randy Hogwarts students as she noticed every male and even some of the females seemed captivated by her and unable to look away.

Susan however couldn't help but turn to look at Harry.

Well almost any wizard she noted with a great deal of satisfaction.

Harry instead was looking at his male classmates, seeming to be quite amused by their reactions to the veela girl.

Mmm, she loved Harry she thought once again. It wouldn't have entirely bothered her if he had been staring, he was a teenage boy and the girl was incredibly beautiful after all.

Besides she was well used to seeing Harry stare at Daphne, Padma, and Hermione.

That however didn't bother her in the slightest, in fact she had come to actually enjoy with amusement Harry's reactions to how attractive he found them all.

She however couldn't resist going and kissing Harry full on the lips.

He grinned and asked, "what was that for?"

"Oh, just felt like doing that is all," She replied.

"Well please feel free any time," Harry told her.

…..

As the Goblet of Fire seemed to be finalizing making its decisions Susan couldn't help but feel nervous. What had she done choosing to enter such a dangerous tournament? Well it was already done and she was obliged to compete so if she was selected she would just do her best and try not to let anybody down. Besides there seemed a rather low chance that it would be her anyway.

Yet just as she thought this the Goblet of Fire popped out its first name which Dumbledore snatched out of the air.

"The Champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!" Dumbledore declared.

Immediately there was plenty of applause from all the different schools, particularly from boys and a lot of jealous and angry looks from the girls.

Fleur Delacour however just smiled and waved as if she was a contestant at a beauty pageant, which she honestly could easily fit right in with, and then went into the room at the side of the Great Hall.

Personally Susan couldn't help but wish that the Goblet of Fire had chosen someone else, perhaps someone who was a better and nicer person, but judging from the applause, mostly from all the boys, they didn't seem to share her opinion.

The next name then popped out of the Goblet of Fire and Dumbledore once again snatched it out of the air.

"The Champion for Durmstrang is Victor Krum!" Dumbledore declared.

At once there was just as loud of applause for Victor Krum, being a mix of both girls as he was rather handsome to a lot of girls as well as plenty of applause from lots of Quidditch fans as everyone knew of Victor Krum by now after the Quidditch World Cup.

Krum merely bowed slightly, a surly and uncaring look on his face as he also then went to go join Fleur.

That then left the Hogwarts Champion and everyone waited with baited breath for that.

A moment later and the final name popped out of the goblet.

Dumbledore held up the name and read aloud, "the Champion for Hogwarts is Susan Bones!"

Susan felt her heart stop at hearing her name being read.

It barely registered as the applause hit her or the many whispers of her name or the many words of congratulations from everyone around her.

"Go on up," Hermione urged her, seeming excited yet also now worried for her.

Still unable to comprehend this was really happening, she went over to Dumbledore who then pointed towards the side room.

So she was the Triwizard Champion for Hogwarts she thought as she took in a deep breath just to let it all sink in.

As she walked into the side room, Fleur Delacour seemed surprised to see her.

"Is there some sort of mistake?" Fleur asked with disgust, "what is this little girl doing here?"

A scowl of annoyance hit her face, she was certainly not little. Maybe a little bit short and younger than Fleur, but not that short even though Fleur in her high heels and her naturally being tall might have made her seem little in comparison.

In just the brief time that Fleur had been at Hogwarts she'd seen enough of her to see that she was quite a bully, either getting what she wanted because of how pretty she was, or acted like she was better than everybody else.

Susan couldn't stand people like that, no matter how attractive they were and just made them look ugly instead.

As she looked Fleur over, while Fleur was busty she noted with a bit of satisfaction that she was actually even more busty than she was.

Hah, not so little there am I? Susan thought with some satisfaction as she thrust out her larger chest.

Fleur seemed to somehow understand the gesture for what it was and didn't seem to appreciate the competition.

"Dumbledore decided to allow just a few younger students who had proven themselves more than capable of competing in the Tournament," Ludo Bagman, one of the Judges for the tournament informed them all.

Krum grunted as if he didn't care either way.

The other 2 headmasters however seemed to like it as if it meant that it just gave their schools a better chance of winning, seeming to already count her out.

Appearances wise that would seem to be the case as she would be going up against a veela and an internationally famous quidditch star, but appearances could be deceiving she thought.

"Very well then," Karkaroff, the Headmaster of Durmstrang said, "if this is really the best that Hogwarts can get, then we shall be happy to go against her."

Susan couldn't help but feel a good deal of resentment at that comment. She normally tended to like and get along with most people, but she definitely didn't appreciate being underestimated.

She would show them just how good a Hogwarts student, a Hufflepuff, and a Bones woman really was.

She also decided to add a couple additional titles of what she was to that: how good a member of The Study Group and a fiancee of Harry Potter really was.

**Please Review!**


	21. The First Task

**Chapter 21**

**The First Task**

**Susan**

Despite her show of confidence in herself, as the Tournament however got under way Susan couldn't help but feel a bit panicked about what she had gotten herself into however especially since she had no idea just what she was going to be facing in the First Task.

One night however about an hour before curfew Hagrid surprisingly invited the study group to meet him just at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

He looked particularly excited about something he wanted to show them, which in Hagrid's case made her quite wary of just what it was, probably some sort of monster or very dangerous creature.

When she saw just what Hagrid had to show them and more in particular just what it meant for her however she couldn't help but feel sick to her stomach.

Dragons, she realized. That's what she would be facing in the First Task. How on earth was she supposed to take on a dragon all by herself?

"We'll help you figure it out," Hermione promised her, noticing the look of fear on her face as she watched the dragons fight the dragon handlers, nearly managing to break free as they breathed fire and pulled at the ropes binding them to the ground.

Susan nodded glumly as she tried to think of anything that she could take down a dragon with.

Absolutely nothing came to mind, what she had read about dragons was that they had very thick hides that were very difficult to penetrate with either magical or regular means.

She thought of her animagus form which she was very close to completing a full transformation. As an owl she would certainly be smaller and hopefully attract less attention to the dragon, she would even have the benefit of being able to fly around, but the dragon would simply then be able to roast her to a crisp with only a single fire breathing breath so that might not help too much.

When she and the rest of the study group sat down in the library to help her figure out what to do and found nothing she got even more and more worried as the day of the First Task got closer and closer.

Once again she cursed herself for getting herself into this mess and thinking that she could actually do this. Harry and the other girls still had confidence in her and she tried to have confidence in herself but the fact of the matter was time was running out and she still had no way to handle a dragon.

Finally with the First Task only a few days away and after searching in the library with nothing Susan told the rest of the study group, "why don't we just give it a rest for now?"

"You sure?" Hermione asked, "we can keep going for as long as you need us to."

"Thanks, but I think I'll take a moment to look just myself, thank you all for your hard work," She told them.

The rest of them nodded and got up and left but Harry lingered back as he asked her worriedly, "are you alright?"

"Yeah," Susan said with a long sigh, "I guess I'm just worried about letting everybody down that's all, each of you, my family, the whole school, I would hate to just have to give up and tell the judges I just can't do it."

"You'll figure something out," Harry promised her as he gave her a quick hug, "I know you will."

"Thanks Harry," Susan told him gratefully as she looked into his emerald green eyes that always made her melt.

He was so attractive she thought and she couldn't resist leaning in and kissing him.

However as they pulled away from the kiss then a thought crossed her mind.

"I think I know how to take on the dragon," Susan blurted out in complete amazement at herself.

"Really?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes, I think it might actually work," Susan said with an awed voice, hardly able to believe she had finally come up with a solution.

"What is it?" Harry asked her.

Susan couldn't help but smile as she said, "I'll let you know as soon as I've finished putting my idea together."

She rushed off without another word towards the library to go look something up.

…..

The next day, she got the study group's help in helping her prepare for what she needed to learn how to do, she would need to learn several rather difficult spells as well as complete her animagus form.

The spells were challenging but she felt that she could do them, the full animagus transformation however was more of a problem as she had been working on trying to complete it off and on for about a year now. It was actually the wings that were the most challenging and she would absolutely need them for what she had planned.

Padma and Hermione had managed to complete their animagus transformations about a month ago, while she, Daphne, and Harry were still working on theirs. She suspected it was because Hermione's and Padma's forms weren't as dissimilar from their own, it was actually their tails that had been the biggest challenge since they didn't have them of course as humans.

Developing wings however was an even greater challenge even though she so very much wanted to fly as a gorgeous beautiful red owl.

Ooh, that would be so great and that was what helped fuel her efforts to achieve a full transformation.

She was also pleased and encouraged to see Daphne finally manage a full transformation as they had all decided to try and work on their animagus forms, if Daphne could do it, then she ought to be able to do it too.

As Daphne transformed back into a human after trying out being a snake for a few minutes, slithering about, she said excitedly, "I did it!"

"Congratulations!" All of them told her at the same time.

Harry went and gave her a hug and then a kiss as a reward as Daphne practically beamed with pride.

"Congratulations, you get to be the snake we always knew you were," Hermione teased her.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," Daphne told her.

"It was, you are probably the only snake that I actually like though," Hermione replied.

"Snakes are gorgeous," Daphne insisted, "but I'm glad that you like me Hermione, I might even decide not to turn into a snake and bite you after all."

"I'll just eat you if you try to bite me," Hermione argued, "leopards can get mighty hungry I've found."

"This is true but cats are the best," Padma agreed, who's animagus form was also a large cat.

Both Hermione and Padma, who had bonded and gotten even closer over their similar animagus forms gave each other a high five.

"I can't wait until you and me Harry are able to fully transform and we can go flying together," Susan said with a sigh at the thought.

It would be so wonderful, her a beautiful red owl and him a gorgeous black pegasus flying together.

Harry grinned and said, '"Well we'll just have to get you to achieve your animagus form and we can look forward to that."

"What about you?" Susan asked.

"Let's focus on you first," Harry suggested hastily.

She could somehow sense that he was hiding something but she couldn't be sure just what. At any rate Harry then encouraged her:

"So why don't you try again?"

She did so, concentrating and trying with all of her might, thinking of what it would be like to be a red owl, imagining herself flying through the air and-"

Whoa!

She must have had her eyes closed because when she opened them again she found herself flapping her wings in the air.

She had done it! She thought with a great feeling of excitement.

Yet she was also so surprised that she actually ended up falling and landing the short distance onto the ground.

Flying was going to take some getting used to, she thought, but she was certainly encouraged by having a full transformation.

She let out a hoot of joy that was followed by congratulations from all of her friends and Harry, her fiance.

After a little while of trying to learn how to fly however she was getting tired from the exertion and so transformed back.

"I did it!" Susan said happily.

At this rate if she worked at it enough she should be able to do what she needed to do for the First Task.

"Now we just need to work on you and your animagus form Harry," Hermione told him.

Harry however then looked guilty as he admitted, "well I didn't really want to say anything until now, but since the rest of you have managed it…"

At that, Harry concentrated really hard and much to their amazement...he turned completely into a full Pegasus.

"Harry you've been holding out on us!" Daphne complained before grinning and saying, "keeping secrets, how very Slytherin of you."

Harry the Pegasus however gave a snort of annoyance at her.

Susan pointed out, "he probably just was thinking of the rest of us and didn't want to say anything until we achieved our animagus forms either. Thanks Harry but you didn't need to do that."

Harry just gave her a look and she seemed to understand what he was thinking. He didn't need to hold off from telling them but he did because he cared about them.

The thought then struck her that while they couldn't communicate verbally while in their animagus forms, they could communicate through their bond, which if they continued to try and work on strengthening and having control over it, would be a huge help to them.

Each of the girls looked Harry in his pegasus form over for a while with wonder.

"You're gorgeous Harry," Hermione admitted, now blushing.

"I think he was already gorgeous before Hermione," Daphne argued.

"You know what I mean," Hermione answered.

"Can I ride you?" Padma had the courage to ask, blushing even as she asked it.

She however blushed even more when Daphne then said, "oh, I'd like to ride you too Harry...but you don't need to be a flying horse for me to want to do that."

Padma looked about as red as Susan's hair as she admitted, "I meant actually ride."

If a black pegasus could blush it looked like Harry was too but he obligingly got down so that Padma could more easily mount him.

It didn't seem that Harry knew quite how to fly yet, or at least not safely enough with a passenger on him, but he had no trouble with walking or galloping around with Padma on top of him as she bounced around and grasped his neck to try and hold on. She did however seem to be having a great time as she had a big grin on her face and she trusted that Harry would make sure she didn't actually fall off of him.

"We're going to have to get you a saddle," Hermione observed.

"I know what we're getting him for Christmas then," Susan said, already thinking of asking her Mother and Aunty to help her find one.

For now however she ought to get back to learning how to fly in her animagus form...she was going to need it.

….

When the First Task arrived, Susan stood in the tent with the other 2 champions nervously, hoping that her idea was actually going to work. If it didn't she could very easily be roasted to a crisp.

She was also quite dismayed when she reached into the bag only to get the worst dragon of all, the Hungarian Horntail.

Fleur however went out first and Susan listened to the commentary from Ludo Bagman as best she could, hoping to try and glean anything that might help her, but really it only served in making her more nervous as she listened to Fleur narrowly escaping death before finally succeeding in getting her egg.

Krum was then next as she also had to listen to him as he tried to get his egg, which he finally succeeded in doing.

Well the other 2 champions had managed it, it was all up to her now she thought as her name was called finally and she went out to go take on a dragon.

The dragon somehow looked even bigger and meaner and scarier looking than she remembered and she mentally tried to prepare herself for this.

She looked over at several of the dragon handlers who were currently standing on hand nearby in case they were needed and things got too dangerous. She hoped however that she wouldn't need them and in any case the dragon could still manage to do some serious damage to her before they were able to come protect her.

It was now or never.

She pointed her wand at herself first, muttering the first charm that she would need as she walked closer to the dragon.

The dragon seemed to study her, protectively guarding its eggs, but did seem a bit confused as it tried to sniff her but found nothing.

So far so good she thought her plan so far was working. It couldn't smell her anymore due to the spell that she just cast.

She then pointed her wand at a large rock over on the opposite side of the stadium and as far away from her as she could get, muttering the long and complicated spell. The effects would be invisible to her but not to the dragon.

Much to her relief the dragon's eyes immediately perked up as it got the first whiff.

"That's right," Susan said quietly to herself, "you know you want it."

Drowning out the cheers as well as a few boos from the crowd, it was now just her and the dragon.

The dragon continued to sniff with great interest, looking more and more interested as it slowly and cautiously began to crawl towards the large rock.

The dragon wouldn't be fooled for long though, Susan realized. As soon as it realized that the male dragon pheromones that she had cast onto the large rock was not an actual real male dragon it wouldn't be very happy.

So as soon as the dragon started leaving its eggs and its attention focused on the rock, she began running towards the eggs.

She managed to get all the way over and grab the golden egg but then with a moment of panic the dragon let out an enraged growl as it melted the rock that she had put the dragon pheromones onto with a long stream of flame from its nose and mouth.

It would be coming for her she realized with great fear.

The dragon then turned its attention back to her with an enraged look, knowing that it had been tricked.

She'd never be able to move fast enough to get past it and into safety now she realized.

Well not running at least.

Hurriedly as the dragon looked at her with its steely gaze, its eyes locked in on her as it moved in for the kill she quickly shrank the golden egg that she had just collected down to the size of a chicken egg before transforming.

Concentrating intensely, her thoughts of self preservation fueling her, she transformed into the red owl that was her animagus form.

As she had hoped the dragon was temporarily confused as it wondered just where she had went and where the owl had come from and she used that brief moment to her advantage as she fluttered away as fast as her wings could carry her, the minimized golden egg safely in her talons.

The dragon roared in rage at being thwarted and she heard a burst of flame from its maw but she was already far enough away that it didn't get her.

She managed to fly straight into the tent and back to safety.

She had done it! She had managed to complete the first task and safely get past the dragon and get the golden egg.

To her further amazement as she studied herself she noticed that she also had managed a full Animagus form change even under such pressure.

She however immediately turned back into a human.

"You did amazing!" Padma praised her as she rushed into the tent along with the others, being the first to give her a congratulatory hug.

All of the study group members happily congratulated her and she couldn't help but beam a little at all the compliments. Still she was mostly just relieved that she had done it.

Yet as her scores were put up into the air, she couldn't help but feel some satisfaction that she was in First Place, having gotten all 10s from most of the judges besides Karkaroff who gave her an 8 much to many people's displeasure.

"You should have gotten all 10s," Daphne complained.

Susan however was just fine with what she had gotten and she did take a rather perverse pleasure that she had also done better than Fleur.

She looked over at the gorgeous veela who was currently being treated for a nasty burn next to her, obviously the work of the dragon she had just faced.

Susan's first thought had been to possibly try and rub the fact that she had done better in Fleur's face, but her compassionate side won out and she asked with genuine concern, "are you going to be okay?"

Fleur actually looked surprised that she would ask about her and so didn't answer.

Madame Pomfrey however who was treating her burn admitted, "she will be fine just as soon as I finish with healing her up. I still can't believe the judges though, dragons! I already have enough to deal with, all the stupid and dangerous things you teenagers get into and here I have to deal with you fighting dragons."

Despite Madame Pomfrey's complaining however she was able to fix up Fleur completely in only another minute.

Fleur however looked at Susan as she went to go leave and grudgingly admitted, "congratulations."

"You too," Susan answered.

"I'm still going to beat you in the 2nd task though," Fleur told her defiantly as she then left the tent.

Not a chance, Susan thought.

Still the First Task was over at least and she had done better than she had expected, she just hoped that she survived the other two tasks...and maybe just maybe she might actually even win the whole Tournament.

**Dumbledore**

He had watched with great interest along with everyone else as each of the champions had competed, being impressed with all of them.

He had been most impressed with young Susan Bones. While he had ultimately decided to give special permission to allow her and the rest of her study group a chance to submit their names and try and compete in the Triwizard Tournament feeling that they at least would be up to the challenges that they may face, he had still been surprised that Susan had been selected, and been concerned that she really would be able to handle it.

However at least in the first task, she had handled herself admirably and he was glad that the Hogwarts representative had done so well and was now in first place.

It seemed obvious that she had learned about the dragons well beforehand but he had already figured out that Hagrid had decided to show them the dragons, possibly as a sort of thank you for all their help in helping him make his lesson plans.

With their help, Hagrid had actually proven to be a great teacher that he always knew that he could be given the right encouragement.

He also doubted that Hagrid had shown the study group the dragons in an effort to try and help Susan cheat, it was much more likely in Hagrid's case that he just wanted to show them all his absolute favorite magical creature.

He'd actually had to stop Hagrid several years ago from trying to raise a baby dragon in his hut, contacting some dragon handlers discretely to get them to go pick up the baby dragon and take it to be raised in Romania.

As far as Susan having an advantage knowing about the dragons however he felt that it was fair since Hagrid had also shown Madame Maxime who would no doubt tell Fleur and he had spotted Karkaroff sneak off one night in the woods towards where the dragons were being kept too.

That meant all the champions knew about the dragons beforehand and all of them had obviously prepared.

Personally he felt this was fortunate, while they had people on hand just in case things got too dangerous, he would much rather the students know what they were up against, even though the first task was traditionally supposed to be a mystery...and traditionally never was as the champions all seemed to learn about it well beforehand somehow.

At any rate, he was not only in a good mood to see that the champions had gotten through the first task safely (minus a bit of a nasty burn that Fleur had gotten) but he was also happy as he had just destroyed another horcrux and was close to finding and destroying another one.

This one had been Ravenclaw's diadem, which had, it turned out, been right under his nose this whole time inside Hogwarts.

He'd come across it when finding a totally new room when going through the school trying to find the nearest bathroom, only to find a mysterious new room full of chamber pots and toilets for him to use.

The room had intrigued him and after looking into it for a bit, he decided to ask those that knew the castle better than anyone, the house elves about it.

The house elves apparently called it the Come and Go Room or the Room of Requirement and after discovering the vast potential of such a room and marveling at how such an amazing room could go undiscovered by him for all this time both as a student, teacher, and headmaster, he realized that such a room could also potentially have been used by Voldemort to hide a horcrux, much like how Salazar Slytherin had hidden a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.

After searching, he managed to find Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem and destroy the horcrux inside it.

That now left just Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket, and he had a strong clue as to where one of those was.

Then there was of course Voldemort himself yet he still had no idea just where he was. If he was lucky however it wouldn't really matter as if he destroyed all of his horcruxes his tethers to this world would all be destroyed and what was left of him would truly be gone.

Yet he knew deep down this wouldn't really happen, Harry was destined to have a role in being the one to help destroy him...but it didn't mean he couldn't help Harry with destroying most of Voldmort's horcruxes so Harry could kill him once and for all when the time came.

…..

**Bellatrix**

Bellatrix couldn't help but feel rather disappointed.

Where was her master, the all powerful, deliciously cruel Dark Lord who she had practically worshipped and dreamed about reuniting with as she languished in prison?

Instead she was left with what he had been reduced to, less than even a ghost who was far weaker than even she had feared.

Her magical power however was returning and it wouldn't take too much longer before she would be at least close to what she had been at before.

Her master on the other hand even through a great deal of effort had only been able to be restored to a small, very weak body like that of an infant, hardly what she had imagined for her master's return.

Her master however urged patience, promising that he would return to full strength and finish what he started.

She truly wanted to believe him with all her blackened heart, but there were some serious obstacles facing them.

First of all, due to the stupidity of what had been left of the death eaters in their foolish attack on the campground of the Quidditch World Cup, most of them had been caught or killed either then or in the aftermath as Amelia Bones had used the auror force to track and hunt down those that had escaped.

She had been very hesitant to share this news with her master when she had found out, and his rage had no known no bounds when she told him, but once he calmed down her master insisted they were not needed and they would have the army that they needed.

Still just where were they going to get such an army of followers?

"Do you doubt me Bellatrix?" Her Master asked her in his cold, calculating voice.

"No Master, of course not," Bellatrix insisted. Despite her concerns, she was of course totally loyal to the Dark Lord and she swore she would never allow herself again to let her mental guard slip enough for her master to practice legilimency and discover any such doubts she may have had in his plans.

"Good," The Dark Lord declared, "I do not blame you for having doubts, for any other than I, the greatest wizard to ever live, our situation would indeed prove dire and impossible, but know that I do have a plan for our future army."

"Yes of course Master," Bellatrix declared loyally.

"You have been my most loyal of servants Bellatrix," The Dark Lord told her, causing her to grin widely.

"I will always be loyal to the Dark Lord, the most powerful wizard to ever live," She responded immediately.

"Therefore I'm going to share with you another secret of mine," The Dark Lord said as he whistled and a dementor glided over to them.

"We won't need a human army as we will soon have an army of dementors," The Dark Lord informed her, "the problem with dementors which caused me not to use them much in the war was that they were too easily forced to be chased away by patroni, chased away but never destroyed. However I've discovered a way to make the dementors immune to the Patronus Charm which would of course take away their only weakness, and give me a totally loyal, unbeatable army."

Bellatrix considered just what he was suggesting. With an army of unbeatable Dementors, immune to the Patronus Charm and sucking all of their victims' souls out, they could very easily take over the world, not just the magical one, but all the world. They could kill every Muggle, every Muggleborn, or anyone who dared to defy them.

How could she have doubted her master?

She asked, "Master that is a truly glorious plan and I do not doubt your ability in being able to pull it off, what can I do to help you achieve it?"

"I will tell you the process," Her Master said, "however we will need to wait until I have regained my full strength to completely implement it."

"I have already collected nearly all that we will need for the rebirth ritual," Bellatrix declared proudly, "I would only need to get one of your enemies, you have many of them so it should be quite easy, and then use their blood in your rebirth."

"NO!" The Dark Lord insisted, "I will have the boy's blood and no other."

"Master the boy will be difficult, if not impossible to get to," Bellatrix argued, "why do we need his blood rather than another? We could bring you back to full strength right now if-"

"I need his blood and no others!" The Dark Lord insisted again before then calming down a bit and saying, "at any rate, allow me to figure out how we will eventually get to the boy. Instead I want you to go check on my horcruxes and see if they are still safe."

"Yes of course Master," Bellatrix answered.

"The loss of my diary was certainly not welcome," The Dark Lord admitted, "but trivial as I have quite a few more horcruxes to rely on. My concern however is that blasted Dumbledore may have found out that I have more than one horcrux and sought to find and locate more of them. If I have to I can create one more horcrux possibly using Nagini for it, but no others as I fear what is left of my soul has been stretched too thin for more than that. If however all of my horcruxes are safe then my fears were for naught."

"I will go and check My Lord," Bellatrix agreed with a bow, "it may take some time even with your explanations on how to do so safely, but do not worry I will succeed."

"I have no doubt you will Bellatrix," The Dark Lord informed her.

Author's Note: I wanted to address a few reviews at once. First of all, having Harry and his fiancees/girlfriends start to act more physically towards each other will start to happen, starting in the next chapter as I feel that at least some of them have progressed that far in their relationship however they will once again have much more reasonable body proportions, but if you do enjoy that sort of thing, Susan at least will still be very well endowed as a sort of compromise. In any case however I want the main focus to still be on the actual plot and storyline.

By the way as seen just now, this is the start to the real threat to Harry and the girls. Obviously it diverges from canon but I'm hoping that you all like it as I've had it planned for a long time and will have a nice twist to it as that part of the plot continues to progress.

**Please Review!**


	22. Dates and Lakes

**Chapter 22**

**Dates and Lakes**

**Harry**

With the next task not until near the end of February which while they still hadn't managed to figure out the egg clue which only screeched super loudly when opened, he felt like they still had plenty of time and he had total confidence Susan with or without their help would figure it out.

He was however grateful that he didn't have to be in the Tournament, after seeing what Susan and the other champions had gone through with the dragons he was glad to have decided to sit it out.

Yet there turned out to be another aspect to the Tournament that he did need to participate in.

Dumbledore got up a week or so after the First Task to announce, "as part of tradition for the Triwizard Tournament, there is also a Yule Ball where students 4th year and up will be allowed to find dates and go to a dance."

Immediately there were quite a few excited squeals of delight from the girls and groans from the boys.

Harry however just grinned as he was now looking forward to a great evening with his 2 fiancees and 2 girlfriends.

"This is going to be great!" Susan praised eagerly, clearly looking forward to it.

"Yeah, it should be a lot of fun," He agreed, "I'm assuming that I can ask all 4 of you to go with me?"

"Of course Harry," Padma said, "what do you think we wouldn't?"

"I just figured I should at least ask each of you," Harry told them all, "I must say I would consider myself to be the luckiest guy ever to go with the 4 most beautiful, smartest, and best girls in the whole world to go with me to the Yule Ball."

All 4 of the girls blushed as Daphne said, "I do appreciate the flattery."

"Although unnecessary to ask us it is appreciated and of course we all want to go with you," Susan told him, "from what I've read about the history of the tournament though it is customary that the champions and their dates dance the first song so I hope none of you mind me getting the first dance."

"Not a problem, I call dibs on him 2nd," Padma called out.

"I've got him 3rd," Hermione said.

"Then after you girls have had your fun dancing with him, I'm calling dibs on Harry himself for some fun of my own," Daphne said, giving him a wink.

Harry grinned at such a proposal as he asked her, "you mean like some of this?"

He reached his hand over and grasped Daphne's very nice left boob.

Daphne grinned back and said, "yes, like some of that."

His and Daphne's relationship which was usually more physical than the other girls, had recently progressed to feeling each other's entire bodies up over their clothing, including Daphne's very nice breasts that he found he was quite enjoying.

Fortunately none of the other girls seemed to mind him doing so in front of them however but he also hadn't pushed them in case they weren't ready for that. They would let him know he reasoned and he knew that they were talking about it amongst themselves.

"I don't know what I'm going to wear to the Yule Ball though," Padma admitted, "I really don't have anything super fancy."

"Just go naked, I'm sure Harry here wouldn't mind," Daphne suggested.

"I'm sure he would, but I'm confident a lot of other people there would be quite upset if I tried to go naked," Padma countered.

"We'll just have to go shopping for new dresses," Hermione replied.

"Ooh that sounds like fun!" Susan said, "I already had some nice dresses but I'm not sure they would still fit me."

Susan blushed and pointed to her huge bosom which had clearly gone through a recent growth spurt.

"I'm sure we can find a dress to show these huge babies off," Daphne replied, deciding to give Susan's breasts a quick squeeze.

"No fair," Harry complained about Daphne getting to do that instead of him.

Susan grinned and asked, "you want to feel them too Harry?"

"Obviously," He told her, having been tempted to feel his very well endowed fiancee's bosom countless times by now but of course always resisting.

Susan just grinned wider and asked, "so what is stopping you then?"

Harry could hardly believe his luck as he inquired back, "are you sure?"

Susan admitted, "well I've been thinking about it and I figure I love you and I'm betrothed to you now so I feel like now is the time I'm ready for our relationship to get more physical."

He couldn't help but grin back and say, "oh, I'm definitely okay with that."

For now he opted to just give Susan's breasts a nice quick squeeze, as they were still in a public area. He would enjoy them more fully later.

While he had been enjoying Daphne's very nice breasts, which were actually a bit larger than the average girl their age, Susan's chest was clearly in a different league in size, the biggest in their year and probably the year above them as well.

Yet he also appreciated that this was all a big moment and step for Susan in their relationship and so he tried to understand it from her perspective, as she really wanted her fiance to enjoy her body and have that level of physical intimacy between them.

He looked at Susan's breasts, deciding to admire them for a moment as he remarked, "they really are incredible Susan."

She smiled and said, "thanks Harry I'm glad that you like them."

He then looked at each of the girls and said, "honestly I don't know how I got so lucky with all 4 of you incredibly beautiful girls."

His other fiancee and 2 girlfriends were more average in breast size, but that didn't really matter to him as they were no less beautiful. Still he hadn't meant just their chests when talking about how beautiful he found them. Each of them was quite different in appearance, but still equally very attractive to him.

"Thanks Harry," Padma said, seeming to know what he meant, "I'll let you know when I want our relationship to be more physical as well."

"Me too," Hermione answered, "I grew up with a more conservative background then the rest of you girls but I will admit I have been wanting that kind of relationship with you more and more."

"I'll leave that up to you," He told them, "I'm not going to push you and I'm quite happy to be patient with you, no need to feel pressured or rushed."

"I definitely wouldn't want to make you feel that way," Susan agreed looking at both Hermione and Padma.

"Oh no I definitely don't feel that you are," Hermione answered, "feel free to do what you want, I'm not bothered by it."

"It kind of turns me on to be honest," Daphne answered, "I've been trying to use my bond to Harry lately to try and feel what he is feeling when he kisses you girls and it's been quite...enjoyable."

"We don't need to know the details," Hermione said, "but it is interesting that you are able to do that."

"I think it might make me bisexual if I keep at it though," Daphne argued, "Harry finds each of you way too attractive and it makes even me want to kiss each of you."

The thought of Daphne making out with each of the other girls came to Harry's mind...and it was quite the turn on for him.

Still he definitely wasn't going to push for that or even try to imagine the possibilities too much...besides he was lucky enough as it was...and he had a Yule Ball to prepare for and look forward to with the 4 most beautiful girls in the world.

….

Later on, Harry was waiting along with Susan for the rest of the girls to come join them for another study session, planning to practice a spell inside one of the empty classrooms.

Seeing that they had a little time however, they were taking advantage of it by making out and feeling each other up as he had his hands all over Susan's huge bosom. Goodness they were so big and heavy and just absolutely incredible.

Susan on the other hand was feeling up his very prominent erection.

"Looks like I'm not the only one well endowed," She commented, seeming quite pleased.

"It also helps that you turn me on so much," He replied back before leaning in to kiss and make out with her some more even as he continued to play with her huge breasts through her robes and bra.

Finally however they were suddenly interrupted as they heard Hermione ask, "so when did you want to start studying then?"

He and Susan both broke apart from their make out session, blushing a bit.

"I think they were both too busy studying each other," Daphne teased, "you really didn't have to stop though, I was enjoying it."

He and Susan however decided it would probably be best to get to studying.

After learning about and practicing the new spell however Padma asked Susan, "so how is that egg clue going?"

"Oh, I think I've figured it out," Susan informed them happily, "I think the screeching is actually mersong so I'll need to listen to it underwater, only problem is I can't find a large enough body of water to listen to it under. My dorm room only has a shower and with 4 other girls sharing it, it's pretty hard to even get to use that."

"We could just use the lake and put warming charms on ourselves," Hermione suggested.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the next task is the lake," Padma noted, "if the egg clue really is mersong then we would only find mermaids down at the bottom of the lake. They don't usually come up to the surface but I know Dumbledore has a good relationship with them."

"That's probably it then," Susan agreed, "we may have actually solved the clue before even really listening to it, I'll probably need to go down to the bottom lake and somehow not drown and then go down to the mervillage to do something."

"Better hope it is not to fight the mermaids, I've heard they are vicious when threatened," Daphne told her.

"I hope I don't actually have to fight them," Susan said, "I'm guessing though that the real challenge will be actually getting safely down to the mervillage and being able to breath underwater."

"You could just get scuba gear or an aqua lung?" Hermione suggested, "sometimes the muggle ways are the best ways. I could ask my parents to buy all the gear for you?"

"Thanks for the offer," Susan said, "however while the lake isn't part of the actual school, it might be close enough to it or the mervillage magical enough that the muggle machinery might stop working like the way muggle stuff usually malfunctions and breaks around magical areas."

That seemed to stump them all until Padma suggested, "in order to breath at least you could try the bubble head charm, I sometimes use it whenever Parvati puts on way too much perfume at home."

"That's a great idea!" Susan praised, "however then I would still have the issue of actually finding the mervillage and being able to get down there quick enough as I'm sure that there is a time limit."

"We can practice and even have you at least find the mervillage beforehand," Hermione suggested, "we won't actually go inside the mervillage in case the merpeople consider it a threat and try to attack us, but just close enough to see it."

"Great idea!" Susan said, sounding relieved, especially since her first trip down into the lake would involve her not having to be alone. Of course they wouldn't be able to accompany her during the 2nd Task, but she would hopefully be much more prepared by herself when the time came.

….

Later on they all made their way to the lake and cast warming charms on themselves so they wouldn't freeze to death in the icy cold waters of the lake.

Upon doing so they all took off their outer clothes and Harry noticed much to his enjoyment that all of the girls were wearing bikinis, and looking very, very good in them.

"Harry here certainly seems to be enjoying the view," Daphne observed with a big and sly grin on her face.

"I can't exactly help it," Harry told them, "there is a lot for me to look at right now."

Padma grinned too and told him as she happily gave him a wink, "well you're certainly free to look all you want."

He gave each of the girls a long look as he admired each of them.

"You can do more than just look in my case Harry," Daphne offered.

He couldn't resist grinning and giving her a kiss as he groped her very nice bum while she did the same with him.

After that he went over and gave each of the other girls a kiss as well, as well as giving Susan's left boob a nice squeeze over her bikini top, which was rather hard to keep it at that as she was showing a lot of delicious cleavage to him..

He was also pleased to see each of the girls looking appreciatively at him, clad only in his swim trunks.

After another moment of looking at each other, they then all went underwater for a moment to listen to the egg clue which seemed straightforward enough, that the merpeople would have something that they valued and they would need to go down and get it back from them.

They then got to work in casting the Bubble Head Charm, something that they had read about but never tried before except for Padma who instructed them on how to do it.

Once each of them had managed to do it successfully a few times, they then dove into the lake and began swimming.

Since they were underwater they could no longer speak to each other but they signaled each other with their hands when they wanted to communicate.

That worked to a certain extent, but he also tried to practice using his bond that he had with each of the girls to try and also convey certain thoughts or feelings, which was still not as good or as easy as simply talking but what was still very helpful and it was nice to have a good reason to enjoy this level of emotional intimacy with each of the girls.

By now he could tell which girl was which without even looking, able to sense their own individual minds and emotions which were each distinct and unique to them.

As they swam deeper, they tried locating the mervillage.

Logic suggested that the merpeople would be at the bottom and center of the lake, so they started swimming in that direction.

When they got down towards the bottom of the lake, they were nearly attacked by some grindylows, but together they managed to subdue them despite their magic not working as effectively underwater.

Harry thought Susan probably ought to try and avoid them by herself, but learn a few spells that would be effective underwater just in case.

Once they spotted what had to be the mervillage, they then came up to the surface.

Susan however looked relieved and satisfied as she had already figured out much of what she was supposed to do.

The only problem now would be to figure out how to get to the mervillage more quickly as it had taken them over an hour just to get to the mervillage much less get back to the surface and then to dry land, but they could work on improving her time, especially since they knew right where the mervillage was and she wouldn't have to spend the time trying to find it.

**Please Review!**


	23. Christmas Gifts

**Chapter 23**

**Christmas Gifts**

**Harry**

When Christmas finally came, Harry had decided to make it extra special for his fiancees and girlfriends. The Yule Ball would be later that night, but in the morning he got together with them all to open presents.

"A Nimbus 2000!" Padma exclaimed in surprise as she opened her present from him.

It of course wasn't the latest and greatest broom out there anymore, but the way that Padma was acting you would have thought it was the greatest broom in the world.

She went and gave him a hug and a kiss as she told him, "thanks Harry."

He couldn't help but grin back and say, "Now when me, Susan, or Daphne decide to go flying you can accompany us without having to share or borrow one of our brooms."

Both he and Susan actually had their own Nimbus 2000s that they had gotten a couple years earlier for Christmas and flew sometimes with Daphne on her own broom.

With the fact that he and Susan also had animagus forms that could fly now they could also do that too, which he had on multiple dates with the girls, giving them a ride on his back, both on the ground and through the air.

By this point, the girls and he had opened most of their gifts both to and from each other with the ones from their families to be opened tomorrow after they went home for the rest of Christmas break after the Yule Ball.

For the most part they had gotten rather simple things for each other as they usually did such as books or cheap various items, but he'd decided to break that trend at least for this year even if he was sure the girls would complain about him getting them too extravagant of presents.

Next up was his gift to Hermione. He knew Hermione didn't care much for flying and so obviously a broom wouldn't be the best gift. Instead he'd gotten something much better for her.

Hermione actually squealed when she realized just what it was: travel plans to go that summer to the Ancient Library of Alexandria.

"Oh my, it's only the greatest and oldest collection of magical knowledge in the world!" Hermione exclaimed eagerly.

Contrary to Muggle opinion, the Great Library of Alexandria had in fact not been burned down or pillaged, that was just a cover story, the reason why was because there was actually just too much magical knowledge secretly stored there and risk Muggles accidentally finding out about it.

For that he got yet another hug and kiss from Hermione even though she scolded him for getting such a lavish present for her.

"I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you, that's all," He insisted.

"I can't wait to see what my present is from you, you are going all out this year," Daphne commented.

"Please tell me mine isn't that extravagant," Susan warned him worriedly before adding just in case, "but of course if it is, I'm sure I'll love it."

In truth he had partially gotten Padma and Hermione such great gifts in order to make it more fair for what he had gotten Susan and Daphne.

He reached into a small bag beside him and pulled out two small boxes.

Then in a grand gesture he went and kneeled in front of Susan and Daphne, pulling open the boxes to reveal the engagement rings inside.

"Susan and Daphne will you marry me?" He asked.

Both girls were obviously surprised but Daphne recovered first as she grinned and said, "oh yeah I'll definitely marry you Harry."

Susan couldn't help but smile wide too and say, "I'd love to marry you Harry."

They were of course betrothed to him already, but he still had wanted to make it more official with getting them actual engagement rings.

He'd gotten Karen, his adoptive mother to meet him in Hogsmeade during one Hogsmeade weekend to help him pick the rings out. They were both very nice diamond rings, but not too over the top either.

Susan examined hers and noticed with pleased surprise as she looked at the ring and noticed a tiny little mark.

"It's the Bones Family crest!" She exclaimed, "except it's…"

"It also has an element of the Potter Family crest in it as well," Harry explained, "I hope that you are okay with that."

"I think it was a great idea!" Susan immediately agreed, "and I really do love the ring Harry."

He got a nice hug and kiss from her followed by Daphne, whose ring also had an altered Bones-Potter family crest on it.

"Guess I'm going to be sort of a Bones as well as a Potter then," Daphne observed not seeming to mind, "of course if you were to say next Christmas get me a diamond necklace with the Greengrass family crest on it so I don't get too homesick then-"

"Don't be too greedy Daphne," Hermione scolded her before then telling him, "they are very nice rings Harry."

He'd worried about Hermione's reaction since they weren't engaged or betrothed or anything, which was again why he had gotten her that special trip to Egypt, but she seemed to be able to be genuinely happy for the other girls.

He however then looked at Padma who actually now looked quite dejected.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," He apologized.

"No, it's not that," Padma said with a long sigh as she reached over and handed him her present to him, a small stack of papers.

When he looked at it and realized just what it was, his eyes widened...and his heart sank.

Each of the girls seemed to pick up on his emotion as they all now immediately knew just what it was and what it meant.

It was a betrothal contract, Padma had decided to get betrothed to him like Susan and Daphne had.

While that should have been a very happy thing for them, there was also the realization that he hadn't gotten a ring for her.

"I'm sorry Padma, I didn't know," He told her gravely, "I would love to marry you of course and I promise I'll get you a ring too if you want."

Daphne decided to add, "yeah, and at least now you get to pick out your own ring, even more fancy and glamorous then even mine and Susan's. Maybe show Harry you are really worth it and get a diamond the size of a Quaffle."

"The size of a quaffle would be so big and heavy the poor girl couldn't even lift such a diamond," Hermione pointed out.

"You're right," Daphne answered, "she would definitely have to seriously put out for a diamond that large anyway."

The rest of them all blushed at that.

"I wouldn't want a ring that big," Padma said, seeming pleased by such an idea as she seemed to be getting excited again, "I do want a ring though to show that I'm going to be marrying you Harry."

"Absolutely," He agreed almost insistently, "whichever one you want."

He went and gave Padma a nice long hug and kiss of her own before then Padma picked up the betrothal agreement and said, "I got my parents to sign it and your Aunt Amelia to read it over and sign it too, all you have to do is sign it as well."

Harry of course immediately did so, signing it before all the signatures glowed gold, making it magically and legally binding.

He now had 3 gorgeous fiancees he realized, a fact of which he was almost overwhelmed by.

After having finished up with their gift giving, they all decided to go out flying, partially so Padma could go try out her new broom.

He offered to let Hermione share his broom with him but she declined as she really didn't care much for flying and instead just enjoyed watching them.

For a while he enjoyed flying both on his broom and as a Pegasus, letting each of the girls take turns riding him, before deciding to let Susan, Daphne, and Padma continue to have some fun while he spent time with Hermione so she didn't feel left out.

Also despite her reaction, he was still worried about her, especially now that she was the only one not betrothed or engaged to him.

"You know I got the travel plans for both of us," He informed her, "just the two of us for a whole week in Egypt, checking out the Great Library as well as tour all the Egyptian Ruins."

"Sounds like a lot of fun!" Hermione said, sounding excited.

It really would be a lot of fun, he thought and he felt that it was a good thing that he had decided to go with her, just the two of them.

"Listen," He said, "I realize that it might be kind of awkward with…"

He stopped unsure what to really say.

"Are you worried that I'll feel bad that I'm the only one not betrothed to you now?" Hermione asked him.

She must have read his mind, he thought. With their bond continually growing stronger it was harder and harder to hide things from each other, but in this case he was grateful that she had figured it out on his own without him having to actually ask her.

"Yes," He confirmed.

Hermione sighed and admitted, "I will admit I actually do feel kind of left out now. With Daphne and then Susan and now Padma betrothed to you and even getting engagement rings, I've already been thinking about the fact that I'm not. The thing is I grew up in a completely different culture, one which would say I'm much too young to be getting engaged."

"I totally understand that," He answered, "you aren't ready and I definitely don't want you to feel pressured or left out."

Hermione however gave him a grim smile and admitted, "actually that's just it, I do feel ready."

"You do?" He asked in complete shock.

"I'm in love with you Harry," Hermione admitted, "I'll always be in love with you and that isn't ever going to change. I plan to marry you and I don't care if you are also marrying 3 other girls, I love those girls almost as much as I love you, but instead I consider them to be closer even then sisters or best friends. Yet I could never get betrothed to you, my parents would never understand and if we were to even get engaged it would be without their blessing."

"I know," He said gravely.

At this moment however tears came to Hermione's eyes and he could suddenly feel the intense amount of warring emotions going through her.

"Yet more and more I want to say that I don't care," Hermione told him, "I don't need to be older or mature to know what I want. I don't need my parents or anyone else's approval nor is it something I need to study more like I would any other subject. You could say it is only symbolic as the other girls are going to be waiting to actually marry you too, but...I still want it. I want that diamond engagement ring on my finger and everyone to know that I'm going to be marrying you Harry."

It seemed to shock both of them just how strong her actual emotions were, some of it having been repressed for a while.

He just looked at her for a moment, watching her continue to cry and unsure what to say.

Finally however he just tried to express with his feelings what he couldn't in words, allowing her to feel what he felt for her.

Feelings of love, feelings of compassion, feelings of just how beautiful, and smart, and incredible he found her.

Then he did what he knew he should do, perhaps it would cause problems for Hermione, but he felt that this was what she really wanted...and what he wanted as well.

Getting down on one knee he asked Hermione, "will you marry me?"

Hermione seemed surprised but smiled through her tears, which were now turning to tears of joy as she said, "Yes!"

He grinned widely, now engaged to his 4th fiancee...definitely his last but certainly not least.

They shared a hug and a kiss which continued even as the other girls flew down and landed next to them.

"What happened?" Padma asked.

From the looks on their faces he guessed that they had sensed some of the overwhelming emotions coming from both him and from Hermione as well.

He couldn't help but smile and introduce, "I just want to introduce you to your future sister-wife Hermione. We just got engaged."

….

Both Hermione and Padma wanted to get engagement rings as soon as possible so they could show them off during the Yule Ball which he was more than happy to oblige.

He took both of them to Hogsmeade with him to go look at rings.

As they looked them over, admiring all the pretty rings, Hermione admitted excitedly, "I can't believe I'm actually doing this!"

"Me too," Padma agreed as she also tried to pick out a ring.

They both finally settled on some nice but not overly fancy rings as that just wasn't their style.

He happily put the rings on both of their fingers.

"I guess it's official now," Padma observed.

"Yep, if it wasn't already," Harry replied, practically bursting with pride.

He still couldn't get over the fact that he was now engaged to all 4 of the most beautiful girls in the world.

"I love you Padma and Hermione," He announced.

They both grinned and said at the same time, "we love you too Harry!"

He could very strongly feel just how much they really did love him in that moment and it actually brought tears to his eyes...as well as to theirs.

After they all wiped away their tears he asked, "can I get a kiss from each of you?"

"Of course Harry," Padma answered.

"Wait," Hermione said, "if we are really engaged then I feel like I'm ready for the next step in our relationship."

"You mean..." Harry asked.

Hermione blushed but said, "well maybe not all the way just yet but feel free to feel me up if you want."

Padma seemed to think for a moment before also announcing, "I'm ready for that too Harry."

He was only too happy to oblige after making sure that this is what they really wanted to do.

Several minutes later and he had one hand on Padma's breast and the other on Hermione's perfect big bum.

If he was honest, he would have to admit that Hermione definitely had the biggest and best bum out of his 4 fiancees.

Daphne had the best legs, Susan the best and biggest breasts, and Padma had the longest and most beautiful hair.

If asked which one was the most overall beautiful, he would always reply whichever one he happened to be looking at.

It was however particularly kind of hard to tell as he was alternating kissing Padma and Hermione as they stood side by side in front of him as they both had a hand wrapped around to grasp his bum.

"Ooh, I love your bum Harry," Hermione admitted.

"I love yours," He told her.

"You really do have an incredible bum Hermione," Padma admitted as she decided to grasp the other of Hermione's cheek that he wasn't currently holding.

"Hey that's mine," He complained.

"You can share my bum Harry," Hermione teased him.

"Actually to be honest it's a major turn on when you girls touch each other," Harry admitted.

Both girls grinned and Padma asked slyly, "oh yeah, you like it when I touch Hermione?"

"Yes," He admitted.

The correct term would actually be duh!

Hermione and Padma then looked at each other and smiled mischieviously.

"You know it is Christmas and he did give us some really nice presents," Padma pointed out.

"Yes, but I feel like we gave him some really nice presents in return," Hermione replied, "besides as far as I know neither of us are bisexual, not that we couldn't experiment to truly be sure."

"We could do what Daphne does and just use our bond to see each other for the way Harry does?" Padma pointed out, "so I could see you for the sexy, big and perfect bumed girl that Harry sees you as."

"Well I suppose we should really try it...for research purposes of course," Hermione replied, "just to study our bond, our sexuality, and each other."

"Of course," Padma answered, "although I'm sure Harry will certainly enjoy it. You sure you are comfortable with this Hermione?"

"Yes," Hermione answered, "I mean I've gotten used to seeing Harry make out with and now feel up the rest of you, and I'm comfortable enough with that. Also it helps that even I would say that you're an attractive girl.

Hardly able to believe his luck, he finally managed to ask, "are you girls suggesting what I think you are suggesting?"

Both girls turned to look at him and just grinned mischievously.

These girls were going to be the death of him he swore.

However he then felt a mental and emotional tug from both Padma and Hermione who seemed to be concentrating on him really hard through their bond.

Padma grinned and said, "does this answer your question?"

At that she leaned in and kissed Hermione, which much to his surprise, after a moment Hermione returned.

His mouth dropped open in shock. Hermione and Padma were kissing each other!

They only kept it to kissing, but after a moment they seemed to really be getting into it.

He didn't think they were bisexual, merely feeding off the strong feelings that he had for both of them, but goodness was it totally hot watching them go at it.

When they finally broke apart, both girls looked at each other in wonder.

"Well that was...different," Hermione replied.

"Yeah, it was," Padma agreed, "can I just say Harry finds you really hot?"

"Yeah, you too," Hermione answered as she rubbed at her lips, "well this certainly has been a really big, very unusual day. Not to say that I didn't enjoy it though, all of it actually."

"Yeah, I didn't think I would like it that much," Padma agreed.

"I think we broke Harry though," Hermione observed with a big grin.

Padma looked over at him with a grin of her own and asked, "did you like your Christmas present Harry?"

"This is the best Christmas ever!" Harry immediately replied.

Never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine it going oh so well.

Better yet they hadn't even gotten to the Yule Ball.

**Please Review!**


	24. The Yule Ball

Author's Note: This story will start to earn it's Mature rating if it hasn't already, starting with the end of this chapter, just as a warning and I hope you all enjoy it.

**Chapter 24**

**The Yule Ball**

**Harry**

When it finally became time for the Yule Ball he went to go pick up the girls all at the same time where they were all getting ready together.

When they finally all came out, his jaw dropped. They were all absolutely gorgeous!

He didn't know where to look, his eyes going from each of them as he looked at them in stunned silence.

They had opted to wear their individual House main color as Susan wore a Hufflepuff yellow dress, Padma a Ravenclaw blue, Daphne a Slytherin Green, and Hermione a Gryffindor gold.

He felt it suited them, showing off their own individual personalities as while they were all dating him, they were indeed still their own person as well as showing a bit of house pride.

He however also noticed that they had all left their very long hair down the way that they knew he liked best, Daphne's, Susan's, and Hermione's hair going to below their incredible bums.

Padma's gorgeous shiny black hair however was definitely the longest as it even went to her pretty little ankles.

His eyes then drifted back to admiring just how good each of the girls looked in their incredible dresses.

He might be more than a bit biased but he swore each of them could have been models.

He stood there in his own wizard black dress robes just simply looking at them, seeming to have lost the ability to speak.

"Looks like we broke him again girls," Daphne commented with an amused grin.

"I don't know how I got so lucky to have all of you," He told them for perhaps the millionth time.

All the girls smiled at that.

"We feel lucky to have you too Harry," Hermione told him, "now come on, let's just go enjoy the ball. For tonight, no talk of schoolwork or anything else of that nature."

Wow, it must be special if even Hermione didn't want to talk about their studies.

Still he happily decided to follow that advice as he and the girls all headed off together arm in arm.

As they did so, he commented, "you know what my favorite part about your outfits is?"

"Let me guess, the cleavage or the way our dresses show off our bums?" Daphne suggested.

While he certainly had noticed both of those things, that wasn't what he had been thinking of.

Harry frowned and admitted, "no I was going to say each of your engagement rings."

Each of the girls smiled at that.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to showing off mine," Padma admitted as she held out the hand that had her ring on it, "it'll feel good showing to the world that I'm marrying you."

"Me too," Hermione agreed, although she had a caveat, "I have no idea how I'm going to tell my parents I'm already engaged though."

"So don't tell them yet," Daphne answered, "obviously the Daily Prophet is going to go crazy when they realize Mr. Boy-who-lived is already engaged to 4 different witches but with your parents being Muggles they'll likely never find out unless you tell them. Just make sure to take off and hide your engagement ring when you go home for the holidays."

Hermione frowned as she admitted, "I suppose that could work, I don't want to lie to them but I don't think they would understand and I don't want to make them mad."

He felt guilty as he admitted, "well I'll support you with whatever decision you decide to make."

"I'll think about it," Hermione answered, "but I definitely am happy to announce to the wizarding world at least that I'm marrying you."

At that they continued on, making no effort to hide their engagement rings.

When they reached the entrance to the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall was checking each of the students to make sure their attire was appropriate as well as give last minute advice on how to behave themselves.

As Professor McGonagall looked them over she finally decided that they passed in them being dressed appropriately, even though Susan's and Daphne's dresses showed off some cleavage.

She also noticed the engagement rings but chose not to say anything...or maybe she might have but then Padma's sister Parvati noticed the ring on her sister's finger.

"Oh my goodness you actually did it!" Parvati exclaimed in surprise as she grabbed her twin sister's hand and looked over the ring, "well I suppose it's a nice enough ring, but you would expect Harry as rich as he is to have splurged and gotten something a bit better don't you think?"

Harry was reminded once again just how very different, despite being twins Padma and Parvati were.

"I actually picked out my own ring thank you very much," Padma told her sister, seeming annoyed at her sister, "and Harry was more than happy to get me a super expensive one but I decided I really liked this one."

"Well congratulations I guess and I hope you are happy," Parvati told her.

"Thanks sis," Padma replied, "I am very happy."

"I mean I can't say it is really a surprise just sooner than I expected even though mum and dad did sort of hint at it in one of their letters," Parvati answered.

Parvati then left to go with her date to the Yule Ball, which was Dean Thomas. Dean however had been busy looking jealously at Harry at having brought 4 gorgeous dates to the Yule Ball and his jealousy had only seemed to get worse when he realized he was also engaged to those 4 girls.

In fact Harry noticed a lot of guys looking with jealousy at him as well as admiring all 4 of his fiancees.

The girls at Hogwarts on the other hand, especially each of his fiancees' friends once they noticed the rings, immediately came over to ooh and ahh at them as his fiancees happily showed them off.

While they were busy, the Weasley Twins came by and talked to him while their dates Angelina and Alicia were busy oggling his fiancees' engagement rings.

"I don't know how you are doing this Harry," George commented, "even got rings on all of them now too."

"Just very lucky I guess," Harry answered, having heard this question many times by now and always giving the same answer.

"They aren't married yet though," Fred pointed out, "we still have time to try and steal them from him."

"Nah, they are clearly too in love with Mr. Stud here," George answered, "reckon Angelina and Alicia would mind sharing if we both tried to get some more girls too?"

Unfortunately both Angelina and Alicia heard them as Angelina said, "if you even think of trying to get me to share with another girl, I'll hex your bits off!"

"Same goes for me!" Alicia insisted.

"Maybe just a swap with me and George? Neither of us would mind sharing?" Fred suggested.

George smiled and said, "can't blame two guys for trying."

At that he and Fred as well as Angelina and Alicia went to go into the Ball.

By now the crowd of girls around his fiancees looking at their rings had dispersed and they were finally able to go into the Ball themselves.

McGonagall however having been annoyed at the crowd around them, but deciding to let it slide under the circumstances, said:

"Congratulations to all of you."

"Thanks Professor," Hermione told her brightly as this was usually about the most praise they could expect from McGonagall, who had long since tired of praising them for their usual Outstanding level of schoolwork.

Professor McGonagall then looked at Susan.

For a moment he worried that McGonagall would change her mind about Susan's dress, as she was showing a generous amount of cleavage, which really wasn't difficult to do considering how busty she was. Fortunately McGonagall didn't and brought something else up.

"So I'm assuming for you Susan that you will be dancing with Harry for the first dance as is customary for Triwizard Champions?" Professor McGonagall asked.

Susan of course already knew about this and admitted, "yes I plan to."

Professor McGonagall nodded and let them through but only before giving them a final warning.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall said finally, "make sure that you all behave yourselves tonight at the Ball...especially you Mr. Potter. I know you are all engaged now but that doesn't give you the right to act unbecoming of Hogwarts students."

As they walked into the Great Hall Daphne whispered to him, "you know that only makes me want to be naughty with you even more. As I recall I claimed you for after the ball and I plan to take advantage of it. Besides McGonagall only warned about us behaving ourselves at the ball, she never said anything about after."

"That's a very Slytherin way of looking at it," Harry commented with a grin, "but I definitely like your thinking."

Upon entering the Yule Ball he was surprised to see Amelia there, currently standing next to her date and boyfriend Sirius Black.

Apparently as Head of Magical Law Enforcement she had decided to act as security as well as a chaperone.

They of course went over to see her, each of the girls eager to show her their engagement rings and as they talked Sirius decided to try and pull Harry aside.

"Congratulations Harry," Sirius told him.

"Thank you," Harry answered.

"You've truly made your father, at least the teenage version of him before he met your mother and this old dog proud, managing to pull off getting 4 beautiful girls to marry you," Sirius told him.

"Thanks again," Harry replied, feeling rather good by the fact that he apparently so impressed both his godfather and evidently his father too had he been alive.

Sirius however then looked worriedly over at Amelia who was still busy talking to the girls before then reaching into his pocket and briefly pulling out a small box to show Harry before hastily putting it back into his pocket.

"You actually beat me to it Harry," Sirius confided, "I'm planning on asking Amelia to marry me tonight after the Ball."

"Oh wow, that's awesome!" Harry immediately told him, genuinely happy for both of them. They both deserved it and each other after their such difficult lives.

Sirius seemed pleased by his initial enthusiastic response to that but still studied him for a moment and asked, "you sure you are okay with that, having me for a sort of Uncle?"

"Of course, it'll be nice to have you be even more family then you already are," Harry replied, "besides I can tell Amelia really has grown to love you."

Sirius looked over at Amelia and commented, "she really is an amazing woman, I'm looking forward to marrying her...that is of course if I can get her to say yes."

"I'm sure she will," Harry answered, "and if not I suppose I could put in a good word for you."

"That would be appreciated but hopefully I won't need it, wish me luck though," Sirius said.

"Good luck," Harry told him.

Both he and Sirius started heading back towards their significant others when Dumbledore came over and stopped them.

"Sirius I was wondering if I might talk to you for a moment," Dumbledore admitted quietly, "it's about your brother Regulus."

Sirius was quite surprised as he asked, "My brother? What about him?"

"I think he might have once had something, something valuable that I need to get," Dumbledore admitted.

Harry didn't hear too much more as Dumbledore by then had fully pulled Sirius aside so he could talk to him alone.

Still he decided to go and rejoin his fiancees as dinner would likely be starting soon.

After sitting down and having dinner, the actual dance then started and as was traditional, he danced with Susan for the first dance along with the other Triwizard Champions and their dates.

Fleur had gone with Roger Davies, but she certainly didn't look happy with her choice as Roger seemed unable to do much more than just ogle Fleur throughout the entire dance and she wasn't able to get really any conversation out of him.

Victor Krum surprisingly had opted to go with Penelope Clearwater, the current Head Girl of Hogwarts who definitely looked overjoyed to have the Internationally Famous Quidditch star as her date.

Finally there was just him and Susan at least for the moment as they both looked deeply into each other's eyes and just enjoyed the moment together.

However when the song ended, Susan seemed okay with then letting him have a turn with Padma.

After dancing with each of the girls individually for a song, they opted to just dance all together. He tried to give each of them a spin occasionally as much as he had the energy for.

The girls also ignored anything traditional or what not and also just chose each other as dance partners as well, with him also managing to dance with 2 girls at the same time while the other 2 danced with each other.

Having spent some time practicing dancing before the Yule Ball they had all found a routine that worked best for them and gotten somewhat good at dancing or at least enough to feel comfortable with it.

Harry noticed plenty of guys looking at him jealously as he and his fiancees had a great time, in fact even plenty of the girls looked jealously at his girlfriends for having him for a date even if they were all sharing him.

He and the girls however just ignored everybody and just let loose and had a really great time.

Finally however the dance came to an end and they reluctantly headed off.

At the crossroads to all of their various dorms, Harry went to bid each of his fiancees goodnight.

He first kissed Padma and after making out for a bit and feeling each other up, Padma commented, "no offense to you Hermione, you're a good kisser but I definitely still prefer kissing Harry."

"Wait a minute!" Daphne complained in surprise and annoyance, "you mean to say Padma and Hermione that you two kissed and I wasn't there to see it?"

Both Padma and Hermione blushed at that.

"We wanted to see what it was like for Harry kissing us, it was mostly for research purposes," Hermione argued.

"Did you like it?" Daphne asked.

"I'll be honest and say I actually really liked it, again not as good as actually kissing Harry but certainly very nice," Padma admitted, "now that I've tried it I think I'd like to keep it doing it actually if one more of you wants to."

"I'll be honest and admit I liked it too a lot more than I thought I would actually," Hermione confessed.

"Did you like it Harry?" Daphne asked him.

"Oh I loved it!" Harry admitted, not even bothering to hide it.

All of the girls couldn't help but smile at that.

"Well if you like it so much," Daphne said, "what would you give me if I did it too?"

"Anything your heart desires," Harry replied.

"Hah, I would have done it for free," Daphne claimed, grinning mischievously as she looked over at Susan, "hey Susan, why don't you and I-"

"Not going to happen," Susan immediately shot her down.

"Why not? Don't you think I'm pretty?" Daphne asked, giving her best sexy pose.

"Of course I think you're pretty but I'm still not kissing you," Susan told her, "the only one I'm kissing is Harry."

At that she went over and exercised that right by kissing him.

"I'll kiss you Daphne if you want it so bad," Hermione suggested.

"A Gryffindor kissing a Slytherin though?" Daphne pointed out teasingly, "that can't be right, probably breaks the laws of nature or something."

"Um," Harry said simply, not even feeling the need to point that he was a Gryffindor and Daphne a Slytherin.

"Well if that's how you feel then I definitely don't want to kiss you," Hermione answered, "in fact I don't really want to kiss you at all, I'm just doing it to be nice, both for you and for Harry as well as for research purposes. Personally I think you are totally ugly."

"Well I think you are an incredibly sexy witch," Daphne replied.

Hermione smiled and said, "that's better if you want to get a kiss from me and no I don't actually think you are ugly."

At that he felt another mental and emotional tug as he allowed his strong feelings for each of the girls go into Daphne and Hermione.

"Wow! Now that I see you the way Harry does, you actually do look really sexy," Hermione was forced to admit.

"Yeah I know," Daphne replied unashamedly, "you too."

At that Harry had the immense pleasure of seeing the two of them kiss, slowly at first but they started to make out and really get into it.

Wow, this was the greatest show on earth he thought.

Yet then Daphne reached around and squeezed Hermione's bum and immediately they broke apart.

"Hey! What was that for?" Hermione complained, rubbing her bum, "it was supposed to be just a kiss."

"Sorry, you've just got such a nice bum is all," Daphne answered, "by the way Harry definitely thinks that you've got the nicest bum out of all us whether he is willing to admit it or not."

Hermione blushed at the compliment and seemed unsure what to say to that.

"Besides I've squeezed your bum quite a few times," Daphne argued.

"Well yes but not...like that," Hermione argued, seeming to be thinking about just what her feelings actually were and just how far she was willing to take this.

"It's a compliment," Daphne insisted before grinning and saying, "the real question however is did Harry enjoy it?"

"You know I did," Harry replied, "but if you girls are going to keep teasing me like this, I'm going to start having problems."

"Well maybe I don't have to just tease you from now on?" Daphne suggested with a sly grin.

His heart stopped momentarily, unable to believe she had really just said that. Although keeping in mind just how often Daphne and the other girls had teased him already and he couldn't be totally sure of anything.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked her.

Daphne grinned even wider, adopting a sexy pose and said, "I don't know, it depends on whether you are ready to find out."

"I'm ready," He told her, "I just want to make sure you really are or that you aren't just teasing me again."

At that Daphne came over to him and placed her hand over the bulge in his dress robes and squeezed as she said, "I want this Harry...and I want you."

Still unable to believe that this was happening he looked at her to make sure she was actually telling the truth, even using their bond to be sure.

Oh, she really did plan on having sex with him he realized, his heart stopping again.

Finally he said, "ooh and I want you too my Sexy Slytherin."

"Can I just say this is totally hot?" Padma admitted, "you two had better do it because otherwise even I'm going to be disappointed."

"You are free to watch us you know Padma," Daphne said, "or better yet join in?"

Padma seemed to think about it for a long moment. In Padma's case she was usually hesitant and cautious, trying to look at things from all angles, but once she had decided on something, she did so completely without much further hesitation. It was much like when she had decided to get betrothed to him, taking a long time and effort to decide on it, but once she did, she was fully committed to it and to him and everything that included even in this case sex. She'd likely already been thinking about just such a thing for quite awhile, she just hadn't decided to act on it until now.

While he obviously wanted to with her, he would totally respect her decision if she still wanted to wait, but from what he could sense from her, that was not at all what she was wanting, which only made him more eager and hopeful himself.

Finally she said, "well I suppose we are both engaged to him by this point and I certainly feel ready for that important step."

"Very true," Daphne answered, "and we probably ought to try out what we're buying shouldn't we?"

"I already love what I'm buying but I wouldn't mind enjoying it first," Padma agreed.

"Do you think the two of us would be too much for you Harry?" Padma asked slyly.

Daphne grinned back and said, "now you're talking."

"You girls probably would be too much for me," Harry answered, "but I sure would love to try."

"Then try all you want," Daphne told him.

With some reluctance Susan and Hermione decided to stay out of it and let him have his first time with both Daphne and Padma alone although they did help them get into one of the rooms typically meant for married students at Hogwarts, which wasn't as used in times past but still came fully furnished.

As the girls both began removing their clothes in front of him, Daphne and Padma made sure to make it as sexy as they could for him and with all the emotions and sexual feelings emanating from him also found each other sexy as well.

Both girls were soon helped out of their dresses by him, leaving them clad only in their sexy underwear.

Daphne pointed at her green bra, hiding her delicious and perfect breasts and asked him, "care to do the honors?"

"I'm not sure I would know how to take a bra," Harry confessed, feeling a bit nervous as this was of course all new to him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to practice and become a master at it," Daphne replied with a wink.

"Speaking of Master, want me to call you Master Harry?" Padma asked.

She seemed to be genuinely trying to really please him, which only made him want to please her more.

"Call me whatever you'd like," He told her.

Frankly he'd let them call them anything if it meant he got to have sex with them.

Deciding to get into it and having very likely read more than one romance novel as a guilty pleasure, Padma told him, "then I can't wait to pleasure you...Master."

"More like he'll have to pleasure us," Daphne answered, "we both outnumber him 2 to 1 and should be able to overpower him and force him to do naughty things to us."

"That's assuming though that we're on the same side," Padma shrewdly pointed out, "maybe me and Harry are planning to overpower you?"

Daphne grinned widely, clearly liking this idea as she said, "I'd like to see you try."

"Bring it on," Padma answered, feeling rather empowered and getting more into this, although he could sense that she was still feeling rather nervous about exposing her body to him and what he might think of it.

Even Daphne seemed to feel that way, although he was sure he was really going to like both of their no doubt incredible naked bodies.

Hardly able to believe this was happening and seeing just how incredibly sexy these girls could be, he managed to take off both Daphne's and Padma's bras from them.

Having felt their very nice chests up so many times over their clothing much to his enjoyment he was very interested that he finally got to see their naked breasts.

Padma's breasts were probably about average for her age, and somewhat lighter from her usual flawless brown skin, with big dark nipples.

Daphne's breasts were larger than Padma's, not absolutely huge or anything, but big enough for some potential fun later.

"What do you think Harry?" Daphne asked him.

"I'm thinking I'm the luckiest guy in the world," Harry answered.

"You are," Daphne said simply as she then started removing her panties as Padma did the same.

Now totally naked, both girls stood there leaving nothing to his imagination. He would no longer have to simply imagine what both of them looked like naked.

Padma had a dark down of hair down there while Daphne was clean shaven.

Both girls stood there totally naked in front of him, feeling still a bit apprehensive to what he thought.

"You both look incredible," He told them honestly, causing them both to grin.

"We're glad you like our bodies Harry," Daphne replied.

Padma turned to look at Daphne, not seeming threatened or feel jealous of her body but able to appreciate that she was sharing her soon to be lover with another girl that was also attractive.

"Looks like someone was planning on doing it for the first time tonight," Padma commented, having guessed that about Daphne.

Daphne grinned and said, "yes, I just wasn't planning on getting to share this with you Padma. Don't worry though, I think having you here is only going to make it better, which is why I invited you."

"Thanks very much then," Padma replied, "Judging from Harry's reaction I think it's going very well so far, I'm just worried we might break him."

He had to shake his head as he was still admiring the two very attractive girls he was somehow both marrying.

"I'm just worried I might not be able to do it as well as you hope," Harry admitted, "I've never done this before."

"Don't worry Harry," Padma answered reassuringly, "this is our first time as well. I think I've been hiding it rather well but I'm pretty nervous too. I don't expect too much out of you."

"We really don't," Daphne also answered, "as much as I enjoy talking it up, this is really just a time for us to explore and gain some experience."

Gratefully, he let out a long sigh and said, "alright, that's good to know, thank you."

At that, both girls decided to help him out of his own clothes and he was very soon just as naked as the two of them.

Both Daphne and Padma stood there with lust filled looks on their faces.

"Yes, you've certainly got some...potential," Daphne observed, licking her lips.

"It seems bigger now that you're actually seeing it," Padma commented as she looked at his big erection.

He wasn't absolutely massive or anything, but he felt confident that he was at least larger than average for his age and the girls certainly seemed impressed.

"It's going to seem even larger when it is soon inside you," Daphne pointed out to Padma.

"It's probably going to hurt at first but I am looking forward to that," Padma answered, a bit worriedly.

"I'm sure it'll be fine and you've got me and Harry to help you and put you at ease," Daphne reassured her.

"Yeah, I want each of you to feel comfortable and actually enjoy whatever it is we're doing," Harry agreed.

"Oh I'm not worried about that, I trust you completely Harry," Padma told him, putting her complete faith in him.

"So how should we start with this then?" Harry asked the two of them.

"Mmm, how about we start with some kissing and just go with whatever comes naturally?" Padma suggested.

Liking that idea, he came over and started by kissing Padma, pressing their naked bodies together as they did so.

It certainly felt odd, but oh so very nice to feel Padma's naked body against his own equally naked body.

He first ran his hands through her very long hair, admiring the feel and silkiness of it before then reaching through it to grasp her naked bum.

Padma gasped a little.

He could sense she was indeed still a bit nervous for this, however he could also sense she was quite excited and eager for this as well.

She tentatively placed a hand onto his bum and gave it a nice squeeze while he then moved on to squeeze her nice breasts.

He still couldn't believe this was happening.

As he continued to make out with Padma, he felt a hand on his bum that was definitely not Padma's, but he of course didn't mind as Daphne was amusing herself while the two of them were occupied.

Still he decided to apologize at just how very long he and Padma had spent together.

"Sorry," Harry apologized.

"Don't be, I was enjoying the show," Daphne admitted as she now had a hand unashamedly down by her nether regions, "that being said I'm still looking forward to getting some satisfaction and relief from something other than just my own fingers."

"Me too," Padma replied as she also had decided to place a couple fingers onto her own clit, "now you two give a show for me as well."

Harry and Daphne happily did so as they made out and felt each other up, with both of them squeezing and feeling up just about everything they could reach of each other.

Once they finally came apart, he turned to look at Padma, who was furiously rubbing herself by that point.

"That a good enough show for you?" Daphne asked with amusement.

"Yes, it certainly was," Padma answered.

Daphne then decided to ask, "you don't have to if you don't want, but would you be up for doing a bit of experimenting and giving Harry a show for him to watch as well?"

Padma seemed to think for a moment before then grinning and asking him, "would you like that Harry?"

"Very much so, but you don't have to just for me," Harry insisted.

"I actually want to find out just how much I like it," Padma answered, seeming to actually be more than a little excited by such a prospect much to her surprise, "besides with their being 4 of us girls sharing just you, this way will actually be better for all of us. I know Daphne wants to try it and I think Hermione at least will too, my guess is she was just surprised earlier and needs time to figure it out."

"Fair enough, I'll leave it up to you girls how you want to handle that," Harry replied, "feel free though to use our bond at any time to help you see each other the way that I do."

"Like the very sexy girls that we are?" Daphne asked.

"Yes, like the very sexy girls that you are," Harry agreed.

At that, he felt the now familiar tug of both Padma and Daphne connecting with him so they could see each other the way that he saw them.

"Goodness I never noticed just how incredible you look Padma," Daphne observed as she looked at the other girl with lust.

"You too," Padma agreed as she was also admiring Daphne's naked body.

The two of them came together and kissed.

At first it was just kissing, but soon they both had their hands in each other's hair and then really started getting into it.

Daphne decided to try her luck and go and squeeze Padma's bum.

Padma gasped a little in surprise, but recovered quickly and decided to do the same with Daphne's bum.

Wow, this was hot, Harry thought as he watched the two girls go at it. He never dreamed he would get to see this...okay well maybe in his dreams at least.

He watched both girls slip their fingers into each other's clits, causing both of them to moan.

Having felt themselves up so often they were quite experienced with doing so nor once they got into this, have any problems doing so.

He could tell through their bond they actually were really enjoying this, surprising both of them just how easy it was to be actually doing this.

By the time they finally finished, he was very, very turned on...and evidently so were they.

"I think we're definitely ready over here for you Harry," Daphne said with a little laugh.

By now he had relaxed enough into the situation to be able to get into it himself.

"Oh you girls are ready for me huh?" He asked them, "you ready for my great, big penis to claim you and make you mine?"

"Yes," Both girls said excitedly.

"I don't know, are you sure?" He asked them, pretending to still be unsure, "you won't be your virgin selves anymore. You might even find you like it too much, you might even become addicted to me and my penis."

"Ooh, no more innocence and virginity for me," Daphne claimed, "I want you...I want it all, I want it good and hard and loud."

"Me too," Padma agreed, "by the way I love it when you talk dirty."

"You like it when I talk dirty huh?" He asked her, "you like it when I tell you how sexy you are and how much I want to pound into you, good and hard and claim you as mine?"

"Oh yes," Padma agreed, "I don't want to wait anymore, I want to be your lover now and soon I'm going to be your wife too."

"Do us, Harry!" Daphne insisted.

He was more than happy to do so as Daphne went first. As turned on as both of them were and Padma having so happily gotten Daphne so very ready down there, they got right to it, although Daphne did pause for a moment to cast the contraception charm.

"Sorry Harry no babies from me just yet," She teased him.

It being their first time they had to figure out a few things such as positions but he got on top of her and she helped guide him into her.

Daphne gasped as she seemed to feel him start to enter her.

"You alright?" He asked her.

She however grinned and said, "never better, keep going."

He did so, slowly so that she could get used to him inside her.

He could feel his penis pushing up against her inside her as well as through their bond sense how she was feeling.

That also caused him to wonder just how it would feel with their bond, it was sure to definitely enhance the experience but he couldn't be sure just how it would be.

Well he supposed he was about to find out.

As he went deeper he'd been expecting to find something that didn't seem to be there.

"I broke it playing with myself using my wand a while ago," Daphne admitted, "if it makes you feel any better I was thinking of you at the time."

"That certainly helps," He said, "what were you thinking about of me?"

"Ooh, it doesn't matter, it is nothing in comparison to how I feel right now," Daphne answered.

He could sense that, the feelings of excitement and pleasure as well as a feeling of connection and love to him. He wouldn't be just simply having sex with her, he would be making love to her for the first time.

Now fully inside her, he paused for a moment to let them both adjust to a new sensation for both of them.

"How does it feel?" Padma couldn't resist asking.

Daphne grinned lying there sexily on her back as she said, "good, I'm not quite used to it, but I'm liking it. Ooh, I can't believe this is finally in me though."

"Me too," Harry agreed with him lying on top of Daphne, still fully inside her before looking at Padma, "care to help me take care of her?"

Padma still surprised at just how easy this was for her now that they seemed to have past a kind of point of no return hesitated only for a moment before telling him, "I thought you'd never ask."

At that Padma came over and started running her hands all over Daphne as he used his own bond with Daphne to try and figure out what she really wanted from him.

The knowledge of that made him take things differently as he could somehow sense and acted on just how Daphne wanted it, where to touch her, when to take it slow, when to take it…

"Ooh, yes Harry, do me good and hard, ooh yes!" Daphne cried out.

He could feel the intense feelings of pleasure from her intensifying his own as he grinned and rammed harder and harder into her.

He grasped her beautiful, perfect breasts as he did so while Padma was rubbing Daphne's gorgeous legs.

Daphne was so incredible he thought, he couldn't believe they were actually doing this.

"You better believe we're doing this!" Daphne told him, reading his mind, "and we are so doing this over and over again as much as I can get you, ooh, this feels better than I ever imagined. I love you Harry."

"I love you too Daphne," He told her.

He had a great feeling of oneness with her in that moment, almost like they were more one person than just the two of them. He could feel and sense every sensation she was going through and she could feel his, goodness it felt incredible and he felt like he might burst with their shared pleasure.

Speaking of bursting.

By this point he could feel the pressure building within him, begging to be released.

"Do it Harry!" Daphne begged, knowing it was coming, "let it out, all of it out into me!"

He did so, stream after stream inside her, making sure every drop was out before letting out a deep contented sigh as they both lay there with him still inside her.

"That was incredible!" Daphne praised.

He grinned and said, "glad you liked it."

"I loved it too," Padma admitted, "I felt a lot of what the two of you were feeling, it really was indescribable but I am so ready for my turn to find out what it's really like!"

As Harry pulled out of Daphne however he admitted, "unfortunately I might need a minute though I would love to as soon as I can."

Unfortunately he did not have legendary stamina, which would likely be a problem going forward with soon 4 lovers to satisfy.

Daphne however had a smug look on her face as she went and grabbed her wand and said, "don't worry Harry, I've got you covered, Merry Christmas."

She cast a spell on Harry's dick and Harry was surprised to see it getting already erect again.

"You'll be wanting to use that spell a lot Harry, I'm sure," Daphne commented.

"Thanks," He told her gratefully, "that will certainly come in handy in the future."

"Yeah, I'm thanking you too," Padma replied, "you ready for me Harry?"

"Oh yeah," He agreed.

At that he and Padma decided to come together as well for their first time.

He was more gentle with her than with Daphne as he could sense she was just a bit more nervous, but through their bond he still knew how she wanted it and he thoroughly enjoyed her just as much as Daphne.

Padma still had her hymen intact so he had to be aware of that and there was a brief moment of pain but after a moment of making sure she was okay they both pressed on.

As he came into Padma, claiming her virginity as well, he couldn't help but think that life really just kept getting better and better.

**Please Review!**


	25. The Second Task

**Chapter 25**

**The Second Task**

**Bellatrix**

A few days after Christmas and Bellatrix was currently busy tracking horcruxes. The problem had been that the Dark Lord had simply made all of his traps and protections much too difficult to get past for just her. She had needed a way to check to make sure the horcrux was still intact and not harmed in any way without having to deal with the many traps by herself, her master still being far too weak and her still not at full strength to deal with them.

It had taken quite a while but she finally managed to come up with a dark spell to be able to track the remaining horcruxes much in the same way she had used Hufflepuff's cup to locate her master.

Yet when she finally succeeded she had first thought that perhaps the spell she had cast hadn't worked, as it now showed only 2 horcruxes remaining.

Unwilling to believe this possibility or upset her master at even suggesting such a thing, she had been forced to check and recheck her work to make absolutely certain she had used the spell right.

Unfortunately it appeared she had...and it now seemed to be far worse than she had ever dared fear.

The other remaining horcrux, Slytherin's locket as far as she could tell, was also not where it should be either, even though it still showed as being intact and unharmed although it was clearly under protections that made it unplottable on a map and it's location not exact. All she could really tell was that it was in London somewhere.

After flying for hours over London secretly and invisibly searching for the other remaining horcrux, the other one Hufflepuff's cup safely tucked away under her robes, the thought had finally occurred to her.

"Surely not," She said to herself.

Yet as she flew towards it, the dark spell she was using indicated that she was indeed getting closer.

She grinned the closer that she got, for some reason it was in the old Black Family ancestral home, Grimmauld Place.

Yet just as she was about to get there...the indicator suddenly stopped.

Her eyes narrowed as she cast the spell again, wondering if perhaps it had fizzled out for some reason.

Yet nope, it now only showed just one horcrux, which was Hufflepuff's cup that she still had.

She let out a howl of rage and frustration as there was only one reason that Slytherin's locket was no longer showing up. It had just been destroyed.

Despite being only minutes away, she had failed, and what was worse, her master was apparently down to only one horcrux.

He was going to be absolutely furious, she realized, even as his most trusted servant there was no way she wouldn't be severely punished.

Normally she actually enjoyed suffering such pain at the pleasure of her master but not when she so clearly failed him.

The thought occurred to her that the only tether to life her master now had was Hufflepuff's cup that she had in her possession. If she were to, right now, destroy it…

He now had a very weak and pathetic body so he might not automatically be killed but without constant care by her he would soon die.

Even being gone for this long from him was a risk.

He also only had enough left of his soul he had said to only be able to create maybe one more horcrux at the absolute most, and even that would be quite a challenge if not impossible in such a weak state.

The realization that she actually had such power over her master, a being who she had given absolute loyalty to, a being that she had always considered to be far greater and more powerful than any other, was certainly a position she had never expected to be in.

What should she do? The most obvious and honest choice was to tell her master of the destruction of nearly all of his horcruxes and face the consequences for her failure but still she hesitated.

She could simply tell her master that all of his horcruxes were safe and lure him into a false sense of security.

She had the mental fortitude she was sure to keep such a major secret from her master but why should she? She was totally loyal to the dark lord and didn't need to keep secrets from him.

Yet a particularly nasty but admittedly tempting thought crossed her mind. If she was to destroy the last horcrux she could do what so many had tried and failed to do, kill the Dark Lord.

Admittedly her Master's Dementor Plan was not going well, despite her previous confidence in him that he would succeed, he seemed to be making no actual progress in carrying it out. If he failed, then their goals of world domination were over, no matter how convinced her Master might be or how powerful he personally could be once he was reborn, the two of them could not hope to take on the entire world by themselves. If he tried anyway it would likely only cause both of them to get killed in the process and killing him now would only help protect herself. She could go into hiding somewhere far away where she wouldn't be recognized and live out a comfortable life.

No, she told herself, she was still loyal to the Dark Lord, if it had been one of the other Dark Lord's servants that she'd caught having such thoughts, she would have killed him on the spot. The Dark Lord would figure it out, he wouldn't fail, anyone who had ever underestimated the Dark Lord had not lived very long to regret it.

She would give him more time to figure it out, she decided...but what was she to do about his horcruxes?

She was still thinking about it, trying to ultimately decide what to do as she traveled all the way back to the Dark Lord's hiding place.

When she arrived her Master immediately asked, "so Bellatrix have you done what I asked? Are all of my horcruxes safe?"

She looked down at what her master had been reduced to, weaker even then a newborn baby, in fact even in her absence just for the last 6 hours he seemed much weaker.

He could be reborn at any moment and yet still his stubbornness and pride wouldn't let him, he simply had to have the blood of Potter and have his revenge.

He was crazy she thought, she had always known he was crazy but perhaps now too crazy. He might even be crazy enough to...if she told him the truth about his horcruxes...to kill her for her failure. It actually even seemed likely at this point, he'd killed so very many of his servants over the years for far less. Even if he did remember that he still needed her in order to survive as he was he might still kill her.

Finally, after realizing she couldn't delay further with her answer without it being too suspicious she made a quick decision and told the Dark Lord, "all of your other horcruxes are safe, you need not worry Master."

….

**Susan**

It didn't take long after Harry, Padma, and Daphne lost their virginity and had their first time for Hermione and Susan to join in as well.

Both her and Hermione were more reluctant however to have some girl on girl action, but they were eventually being worn down.

So far in Susan's case, it hadn't progressed beyond kissing, but she had found she enjoyed it more than she thought she would.

She still loved Harry, that would never change, but it was nice to have something else to do while he was busy with someone else.

You could say then that each of them were bisexual now, but such feelings were still only when they used their bond to Harry to experience what he felt for each of them.

Still it wasn't as good as Harry himself and she found she enjoyed sex with him way more than she would have thought. Her mother and Aunt probably would have preferred that she wait until she was older, but she saw no reason to wait any longer, besides she was marrying him anyway.

As much fun as she was having with her future husband Harry and her future sister wives, it seemed time went by very quickly as the 2nd task fast approached and then finally came.

Fortunately she was ready, or at least as ready as she would ever be she thought nervously as she stood in front of the lake with the other Champions, waiting for the signal to start.

There was another reason for her to do well as last night Professor McGonagall had gone and taken Harry away while they had been studying and doing last minute preparations for the 2nd task.

When he hadn't returned, she had put 2 and 2 together and assumed that he was in fact the valuable thing that she needed to rescue, which was confirmed now as Dumbledore had explained what they needed to do a moment ago.

She was sure that Dumbledore would not allow harm to come to Harry, but she still felt she had greater incentive to get the 2nd task over and done with.

As she stood there dressed in only her swimsuit, she and Fleur both got plenty of appreciative looks and even a few whistles and catcalls. Both of them had opted to wear more modest one piece swimwear but it didn't seem to matter.

Fleur of course got most of the attention as a veela, but she was also getting some attention as well, mostly directed at her very large chest.

She however ignored them, focused on just getting to Harry and getting the 2nd task over with.

Finally there was the signal to start and she first of all, cast the bubble head charm on herself before then using a nifty spell Hermione had found to turn her hands and feet into flippers to allow her to move faster in the water.

Once that was complete she then dove into the water and began swimming furiously.

She knew exactly where to go by now, having gotten close to the mervillage several times, but this would be the first time actually entering it and doing so alone.

Yet she tried to feel confident as she swam directly towards the mervillage.

However she eventually spotted Fleur swimming nearby, also having used the spell that turned her hands and feet into flippers to make herself go faster.

Fleur seemed to have spotted her too because she then started swimming faster in order to try and beat her to the mervillage.

Susan grinned a little, oh so that's how you want to play it?

They started racing each other through the water neck and neck.

No way was she letting her win, Susan thought.

However Fleur soon proved to be the slightly better swimmer as she managed to pull ahead.

Susan was already getting tired and wasn't sure she could catch up when she spotted something that Fleur didn't.

Several grindylows came up from below them, but Fleur seemed to still be concentrated on what lay in front of her as they were just starting to come in view of the mervillage.

A couple grindylows grabbed Fleur and knocked her wand out of her hand as she was forced to try and fight them with her bare hands and legs as she tried to kick and punch them away from her.

Susan wasn't sure what happened to Fleur next as a couple grindylows tried to attack her as their next target, but she managed to stop them using a couple spells that she had learned that could be used underwater.

Turning her attention back to Fleur, the grindylows now had her and were trying to pull her down deeper underwater as their prisoner as she tried unsuccessfully to stop them.

One of them held up a long crudely made stone knife, threatening her with it.

Yet before the grindylows could make any further moves, Susan cast several spells in rapid succession, the spells finding their targets and knocking them out.

The other 2 grindylows that had joined the fight gnashed their teeth in anger at her, but reluctantly were forced to flee.

Susan swam over to Fleur, asking her with some basic, crudely made sign language she hoped Fleur would understand to ask if she was alright.

Fleur still seemed a bit out of sorts but looked at her gratefully and nodded that she was fine and then began looking for her wand, which fortunately hadn't floated off too far.

At that, the two of them started swimming the rest of the way towards the mervillage.

If Susan had had time she would definitely have been curious to look around as the mervillage while rather quaint by wizard standards had plenty of interesting things about it.

Yet focused on her task and doing it quickly she passed quite a few merpeople who looked at her and Fleur, but fortunately did not attack.

In the very center of the village, she spotted 3 different human captives tied to rocks, a young woman she recognized as Penelope Clearwater, Krum's date to the Yule Ball, who was probably meant for Krum, a little girl around 8 years old who she guessed was Fleur's little sister and then most importantly was-

"Harry," She blurted out inside of her bubble, feeling overly excited to see him.

She cast a spell as best she could underwater to free him from his bonds before grabbing him and trying to pull him to the surface. She noticed Fleur had managed to free her little sister next to her and was also swimming for the surface.

Goodness, Harry, you're heavy, she thought, probably ought to lay off those desserts.

In truth Harry wasn't at all fat, in fact he was a perfect specimen of lean muscle, goodness he was absolutely gorgeous.

Focus on the task at hand, you can have Harry celebrate with you afterwards she reminded herself as she managed to finally pull him to the surface.

As soon as they did so, the enchantment on Harry seemed to break as he looked around in confusion for a moment.

"Harry, you okay?" She asked.

He grinned, realizing what was going on as he looked at her and proclaimed, "you did it!"

She beamed happily at him and said, "yes, I sure did, now you want to help me by swimming for yourself?"

He did so as they both swam to shore. She was however so exhausted from swimming so hard that she had Harry actually help her swim.

Yet as she got to shore her energy spent, she couldn't help but smile at all the many cheers for her.

Fleur however who got to shore mere moments before her and Harry went to go and talk to the judges and after a long moment of deliberation the judges announced their scores.

"Not only did Susan Bones manage to bring back her hostage in less than an hour," Dumbledore proclaimed, "but she also chose to help save a fellow competitor, so therefore I'm pleased to announce that she not only received a perfect score but also 5 additional bonus points."

At that there was an eruption of applause from all of the Hogwarts students and teachers.

Even some of the Beauxbatons students were clapping at having helped rescue their champion. Only Karkaroff, who had clearly been outvoted by the other judges, looked upset by this announcement.

Fleur had managed to get a perfect score as well but without the bonus points.

She however still came over to Susan afterwards and said, "I told the judges what happened and they felt like you deserved some bonus points, I felt like you deserved it too. Thank you for saving me."

Over time Susan had noticed that Fleur's opinion of her had gradually changed and after saving her life, she seemed to now hold her in quite high regard.

Susan was also forced to admit that she might have misjudged Fleur as well.

"No problem," Susan told her genuinely, "I'm just glad that you are safe."

Upon looking at Fleur's little sister, she added, "I'm glad that both of you are safe."

Fleur smiled and opted to give her a nice hug before going back to check on her sister.

Harry then grinned and asked, "care to celebrate having completed the 2nd Task?"

Susan grinned back and said, "I thought you'd never ask."

Susan then looked over at Hermione and asked, "care to join us?"

Hermione grinned back gratefully and said, "of course."

"No fair!" Daphne complained.

"You had your turn with Harry last night," Hermione argued, "go have some fun with Padma then if you are that eager."

"I'm down," Padma offered with a smile of her own.

Daphne still seemed disappointed, but was still somewhat happy with this consolation prize.

"Alright Padma, let's go have some fun of our own," Daphne said, offering the other girl her hand, which she took.

The 3 of them then, her, Harry, and Hermione went off to try and find one of the married couple rooms to have some privacy and where they wouldn't be interrupted.

They all quickly removed their clothes, leaving all 3 of them naked.

Susan lifted up her now naked huge breasts, knowing Harry well enough to know just where he wanted to start and offered them to him.

Harry grinned and prepared to have yet another very wonderful lovemaking session as her and Hermione prepared to enjoy it as well.

**Harry**

With the 2nd task now out of the way, they tried to settle back into their usual study habits until they got hit by a particularly noteworthy curveball.

Professor Dumbledore urged them to take their OWLs a year early as with their accelerated learning program, they were simply running out of material that their teachers could teach them. If they wanted to, they could take their OWLs at the end of this year and their NEWTs at the end of next year, graduating 2 years early. There was no reason not to, Dumbledore pointed out. If they wanted to continue more specialized learning however he suggested that they try an apprenticeship of some sort, either at the Ministry or to one of the teachers at school.

With some reluctance, they eventually agreed to such a plan even though Hermione fretted unnecessarily over just how much they needed to review and study just to be sure.

As for himself, Harry was feeling rather confident in each of their abilities and was sure they would do fine, probably better than fine actually, they might not all get Outstandings on absolutely everything, but graduating 2 years early certainly would help for any job interviews.

When it came to what they wanted to do however once they graduated, he still had no idea, only that he wanted to do something that wouldn't take too much time away from seeing each of the girls, who he absolutely planned on marrying. That at least was one plan for his future he was sure of.

As for his fiancees, none of them were really sure what they wanted to do either, but they still had time to try and figure it out.

While they prepared to try and figure out their future however, one particularly noteworthy lesson did however cause them to think about something else.

Professor Lupin was continuing to teach them as the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, but he decided to bring in a guest lecturer to cover a particular subject.

He brought in Alastor Moody, a retired Auror and personal friend of Dumbledore's who had reluctantly decided it would be a good idea to have the students learn about the Three Unforgivable Curses, in particular the Imperious Curse which had been used to such great effect against them with Bellatrix near the end of their previous year.

Moody finished explaining about the 3 Unforgivable Curses by talking about the Killing Curse.

"The Killing Curse, there is only one person known to have survived it, and he's sitting right here in this room," Moody said ominously.

At once all the girls turned to look at him as well as Moody both with his regular and magical eye.

"Several times actually," Daphne decided to point out.

That only caused Moody to study him even harder.

"I've always wondered how you did it," Moody admitted.

"Love," Harry said simply, "both the love of my mother and my fiancees."

"Is that how?" Moody said, very curious, "love I suppose can indeed be incredibly powerful but little is truly known about love magic. I know some Unspeakables at the Ministry who would love to study you?"

"I'll pass," Harry answered, not wanting to feel like a lab rat.

Moody nodded, seeming to understand before moving on with his guest lecture.

Having gotten special permission from the Ministry or more particularly Susan's aunt to use it on the older students to be able to defend themselves against it, they each took their turn trying to fight it off.

Moody had him go first and he rather reluctantly went up and did so.

"Imperio!" Moody said, looking him straight in the eyes and casting the spell at him.

For a brief moment he wanted to just look into Moody's eyes and follow whatever he asked of him, but something inside himself seemed to fight against it.

It seemed to be his own strong will fighting against Moody's.

Moody seemed surprised as he tried to cast the curse again only for Harry to rebuff it yet again.

"Jump up and down," Moody commanded him.

"No," Harry told him, knowing that he was supposed to resist what Moody was telling him.

Finally after trying a third time and being unsuccessful, Moody gave up and gave a pleased but scary looking grin as he said, "well now that's impressive! I've never seen anyone resist so easily."

Harry couldn't help but grin with pride at that.

Each of the girls took their turn after him, but all of them had difficulty fighting off the Imperious Curse, as Harry had to watch them make fools out of themselves as they jumped up and down, quacked like a duck, or went and stood on top of their chairs.

Padma was last but she had a particular strategy as Moody tried to use the Imperious Curse on her.

Just before he used the spell, Padma immediately concentrated on using their bond to connect with him and as the Imperious Curse hit her, he felt Padma's presence inside him as well as him connecting with her.

He felt the attack on Padma's mind trying to get her to sing a song, but Padma seemed to be using his strength and mental fortitude to throw off the attack.

Moody tried once more only for Padma to once again use such a strategy.

By now Moody seemed confused as to what was going on but still tried harder only to make no further ground.

Finally he gave up, still thinking before he let out a loud, booming laugh that was actually rather scary sounding as he concluded, "of course, love magic, why didn't I see it?"

"I used my bond to Harry in order to rely on his strong will to help protect me," Padma admitted.

"Brilliant!" Hermione praised, "wish I had thought of that."

"Me too," Susan agreed.

Moody looked at each of them as said, "each person can have a connection or link to another, however faint, but each of yours is much stronger than any I've previously encountered. It is a rare and powerful skill. I imagine the Unspeakables would love to get their hands on all of you actually."

"No thanks," Harry immediately declined again.

"Very well," Moody said, "but if I were you I would try and practice using it, you never know when it might come in handy again when you least suspect it. As I always say, make sure to use every tool at your disposal to defeat your enemies."

They didn't really see their bond as a weapon, but they had indeed been practicing using their bond, merely just because it made them all feel closer to each other, but each of them still nodded politely to Moody regardless.

Moody studied them for another long moment with great interest however before finally returning to finishing up explaining about the Unforgivable Curses.

**Please Review!**

**Author's Note: We are actually coming towards the end of this story with only 2 more chapters left as well as the epilogue.**


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